The welfare ministry plans to run pilot programs in fiscal 2010 to secure housing for homeless people, including those who have lost their jobs and live in unregistered care facilities or Internet cafes, ministry officials said Tuesday.
Necessary expenses will be stipulated in a budget estimate for the next fiscal year, according to the officials of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
The projects are expected to be carried out regardless of a possible change of power in Sunday's general election, as the Democratic Party of Japan, the leading opposition party, which is widely forecast to oust the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the poll, has pledged to redress economic disparities in its election campaign.
According to the officials, free or cheap shelters for homeless people were founded in line with the welfare law but quite a number of the facilities appear not to have registered with municipalities. Such shelters are often criticized for running a "poverty business," as there has been frequent trouble between the facilities and their users.
Such problems include incidents in which facility employees withdrew welfare money from the bank accounts of homeless people using their bank books.
The employees had effectively taken control of residents' accounts to obtain rent.
Through one of the intended programs, which will be operated in 20 municipalities as many of them will be located in urban areas, the ministry will offer apartments for those who are staying in such unregistered facilities, as well as for welfare recipients who have nowhere to go after being discharged from hospitals.