Abstract
The need for collaboration among multiple professions and institutions has been indicated to include children at high risk of being excluded from society and schools. However, it is necessary to carefully assess the merits and demerits of expanding the educational space while blurring the boundary between the public and private sectors. In this paper, we examine the characteristics of a private enterprise that serves as a safety net for children at high risk, based on the case study of a free school. The results suggest the importance of:（1）paying attention to the needs that their own organizations are missing while facing the dilemma of business and inclusiveness, （2）making efforts to improve the internal and external environments of the organization, such as increasing the quality of the practice and community-based networking, and（3）having an orientation toward institutional change. It should be noted that the entry of private enterprises into public education poses the risk of bringing “politics,” and the shifting boundary between the public and private sectors is connected to the shifting boundary between education and politics.
Keywords: children facing difficulties, non-profit organization, dilemma of business and inclusiveness, networking, advocacy
