Progress Report
Child Care Commons：Building the System Requirements of Alternative Relatives for Our Parenting1. Clarification of functional requirements and social acceptability of CCC
Progress until FY2022
1. Outline of the project
The aim of the R&D theme is to clarify the functional requirements for CCC as a complement to the traditional child care system. It will contribute to the overall goals of the project, which are the promotion of a flexible and responsible "Our Child Care" with the involvement of diverse people throughout society. In order to achieve these goals, we are addressing two specific issues to address the challenge of clarifying specific methods and policies for society-wide engagement in childcare.
- Issue 1: Constructing requirements based on real-life parenting and expert perspectives
- By interviewing diverse individuals and reviewing social systems, we'll assess pros and cons of involving third parties in childcare.
- Issue 2:Testing family relationships based on CCC
- We'll simulate a quasi-CCC with research group members, formulating hypotheses through role-playing and testing to analyze CCC's challenges and benefits.
2. Outcome so far
Issue 1:
- A:Fact finding through interviewing (Figure)
- Interviews with 18 parents, 20 children (ages 10-18) engaged with a third party, and 13 third parties unveiled Advantages and disadvantages.
- B: Interviews with experts and establishment of an advisory board
- Interviews with 19 experts and an advisory board assessed CCC's compatibility, acceptability, and requirements.
- C: Literature study related to alternative parenting
- Based on 50 literature studies and interviews, CCC emphasizes deterring "competition" with birth parents and fostering caregiver relationships.
- D: Case studies related to alternative parenting
- Case studies revealed the need for a system considering the characteristics of both adults and children during matching.
Issue 2: Testing family relationships based on CCC
We conducted a CCC case study, involving a mother raising a toddler under one year old with alternative relatives. This process resulted in a concrete image of CCC: understanding, interpreting, deciding, and implementing interventions. Periodic interviews explored the family-surrogate relatives relationship.
3. Future plans
Challenge 1: Clarification of CCC functional requirements and building potential participant determination system
- A: Fact-finding survey through interviews
- Interviews with childcare support organizations and individuals will clarify CCC's requirements.
- B: Opinion exchange with an advisory board of experts
- We'll seek input from our advisory board regarding our envisioned CCC based on interview findings.
- C: Review of literature related to alternative parenting
- Through literature research and interviews, we'll refine and categorize CCC's functional requirements.
- D: Case studies related to alternative parenting
- Conducting case studies of other systems will clarify CCC's requirements and operational challenges.
Challenge 2: Testing family relationships based on CCC
We'll conduct third-party testing in “Oyamachi Living Lab” community to address specific issues and assess CCC benefits. Additionally, a workshop will create a model scenario for CCC implementation with diverse participants.
（SAITO Atsuko, TABUCHI Rokuro: Sophia University
SAKAKURA Kyosuke: Tokyo city University)