Beyond strengthening existing programmes, new services, including care programmes for children with autism and assessments of family guardianship arrangements, will be established with stepped-up efforts, Hu said.
He also highlighted the primary-level role in child protection. China currently has about 42,000 “child supervisors” at the township and subdistrict levels and 550,000 “child directors” and workers at the village and community levels.
Hu described them as “strong guardians” of children in difficult circumstances and said their training would be expanded to include mental health screening, safety risk assessments, mandatory reporting and home visits as required components, strengthening their ability to identify and respond to risks facing children.
