In response to the care and protection challenges faced by rural children due to a lack of guardianship, CFRD initiated the Child Companion Program at the end of 2015. The program trains rural women to provide childcare and protection services, adopting a "one person, one family, one link" model. Using the Child Companion Program as a starting point, the Child Companion Program Home as a platform, and a county-level horizontal linkage mechanism as a safeguard, it establishes a village-level child guardianship network to ensure the delivery of child welfare services to the last mile.

Guided by the principle of "optimising mechanisms and strengthening quality," the program focuses on enhancing welfare and protection services for rural children. It utilises a digital management system to promote efficient, transparent, and standardised operations. Efforts include optimising and upgrading services to create child-friendly village homes, piloting innovative thematic modules to enrich service offerings, improving the training system, diversifying course content, and strengthening the talent pool. Additionally, the program reinforces brand promotion and collective efforts to expand its influence.

Child companion mothers are visiting households to care for children in difficulties

 

Child companion mothers are playing games with children at a Child Companion Program Home 

 

2024 Child Companion Program Backbone Cadre Intermediate Workshop