CHANGSHA, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The sky had cleared after the rain, when two rehabilitation therapists picked their way along the muddy path to Yao Xueliu's home. One led a targeted rehabilitation session for his 10-year-old son Xiaoyu (pseudonym), who lives with autism, while the other walked the father through hands-on, home-based care techniques.

Yao's home is in Changtang Town, Anhua County of central China's Hunan Province, which is a 90-minute drive from the county seat. "I'm so grateful to the social worker who helped us connect with these therapists, and for all the support she's given our family over the past few years," said the 39-year-old man.

Social worker Liu Xia first met Xiaoyu in June 2024, when she spotted the boy trying to eat discarded food scraps from garbage on a square in the county seat. Back then, Xiaoyu was staying in a rented apartment with his grandmother Yan Xilin, who had brought him to the county to access regular rehabilitation services. Yan scavenged for recyclables to supplement the family's meager income, leaving Xiaoyu to wander unsupervised.

Xiaoyu's parents divorced when he was young, after which his father migrated to south China's Guangdong Province for work. "The boy was already of school age, but his grandmother had knowledge of neither the local special education enrollment policy, nor how to submit an application," Liu recalled.

After coordinating with a local school, Liu gathered all required application materials on the family's behalf and took the grandma to submit them, successfully securing Xiaoyu a school spot.

However, after just one semester, the accumulated stress of caring for Xiaoyu took a heavy toll on Yan's mental health, leaving her unable to care for the boy independently.

Liu reached out to Yao to update him on the family's situation, and convinced him to return to his hometown and care for his son. Since there were no suitable schools or rehabilitation resources available locally in Changtang Town, the social worker connected the family with rehabilitation therapists from the county's clinic, who make monthly home visits to deliver tailored support.

Liu's work is part of a pilot childcare service system project called "Integrated Child Protection Model" which aimed at safeguarding the healthy growth of vulnerable children, jointly launched by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The project has moved past the previous passive, bottom-line support model that focused mostly on material assistance, and now prioritizes proactive prevention, early case detection, timely intervention, and coordinated multi-party support for children in difficult circumstances.

First launched in 2020 across nine counties and districts in four provinces and autonomous regions, the project had expanded to 16 counties and districts across six provincial-level regions by 2025.

After assessing cases of high-, medium- and low-risk levels, social workers provide follow-up assistance to the first two levels of cases. As of mid-May 2026, Anhua County had a total of 335 active cases, including 29 high-risk and 292 medium-risk cases, roughly one-third of which involve children living with disabilities.

The social workers, notably, not only address the needs of children, but also support their caregivers.

They hold regular group sessions for parents, where they provide psychological counseling and create a safe space for caregivers to share experiences and support each other. For example, at a session held in early May, a social worker taught parents to understand and respect the developmental differences of children.

"We're usually tense at home. Coming to these sessions helps us relax, talk to people who understand exactly what we're going through, and take a weight off our shoulders," Shen Xuan, 36, told Xinhua. Her son is autistic. "I'd been bottling up my feelings for so long, and I knew that constant stress wasn't good for my boy either," she said.

When Li Qin's daughter Xiaofei (pseudonym) was diagnosed with Angelman syndrome at 18 months old, Li had just given birth to her second child. Overwhelmed by enormous psychological pressure, the mother quit her job in the preschool education sector to devote herself full-time to caring for Xiaofei.

While taking her daughter out in public, Li noticed strangers pointing fingers and whispering about Xiaofei, which made her reluctant to step outside her home. "As time passed, my social circle shrank, and I felt cut off from society," Li recalled.

Later, when attending activities organized by social workers, Li met other parents who were facing similar difficulties, which relieved her sense of isolation. "We also set up several social media groups, where we exchange information related to medical treatment, care experience and supportive resources with each other," she added.

Encouraged by social workers, she returned to her preschool education job, and says she feels her life is slowly getting back on track.

Another beneficiary of the pilot program is Xiaoyun (pseudonym), a girl living with an intellectual disability who resides at her uncle's home with her parents and older brother. Her mother also has an intellectual disability, while her 58-year-old father suffers from a chronic disease that prevents him from doing heavy physical labor. The entire household depends on government-issued minimum living allowances and disability subsidies to cover their basic daily needs.

During a routine home visit, social workers found the four-person household had been crammed into a single room. "As Xiaoyun has grown older, this arrangement has become increasingly inappropriate for her privacy," said Zhou Yashu, the social worker assigned to the family.

Zhou and her colleagues helped the family apply for a dedicated home renovation grant. The family's upgraded living space now has two separate bedrooms. Zhou visits every month, bringing learning materials to help the girl build gender awareness.

As outlined in China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), the country will improve the social security and care service systems for persons with disabilities, scale up rehabilitation support for children living with disabilities, and improve community- and family-based care support for people with disabilities.

"The project primarily aims to support children in need in growing up in a family environment, while helping children with disabilities and their families step out of their homes to engage in community, cultural and social activities," said Zhang Houqi, child protection officer with UNICEF China. "Through these services, families can be better empowered, communities can become more accessible and inclusive, and children with disabilities can shift from passive care to equal and inclusive development."

"Built on a service network spanning municipal, county, township and village levels, the project is designed to translate advanced child welfare and protection concepts into practical, sustainable, well-functioning grassroots institutional mechanisms. Our ultimate goal is to explore a feasible, integrated child protection model that can fit into the national context," he said.

Liu Hongbing, deputy head of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Anhua County, noted that the program has nurtured a cohort of high-caliber social workers. Jointly delivered by UNICEF and local authorities, an average of two online and offline training sessions per month have equipped them with growing expertise in service delivery. They also operate dedicated social media chat groups to exchange ideas and work out solutions when encountering difficulties in their daily work.

First piloted in five townships in Anhua, the project now covers all local towns, districts and communities with the additional resources provided by the Civil Affairs Bureau of Anhua County. The number of full-time social workers deployed under the program in Anhua has climbed to 52, a sharp rise from the initial nine when the program was launched in 2024.

Fang Piantao, head of the social welfare center under Anhua County Civil Affairs Bureau, recalled that when she started working on protection of minors in 2023, she had no clue how to carry out relevant work. "This program has offered me clear guidance," she said.

"In the past, our work tended to prioritize outcome indicators, such as achieving a zero dropout rate. Now we focus on genuinely caring for service recipients and improving their actual living conditions," she said. "Even if some problems are hard to address for the time being, they will offer insights to inform our future policy formulation."

She often tells her fellow social workers: "The very presence of us social workers has brought a ray of sunshine to the lives of people in need."

Li Qin, the mother of Xiaofei, is currently preparing for a social worker qualification examination. "Given my own family background, I will be able to better empathize with the people I help if I become a social worker," she said. "The job also gives me the opportunity to acquire professional nursing expertise."

Social worker Liu Xia is hoping to find Yao Xueliu a suitable job. Yao is currently unable to work far from home, but his mother's mental condition has improved with the assistance of rehabilitation therapists. "We hope to find a job for him close to home, so that he can take care of his family at the same time," Liu said. ■