China Focus. Social workers bring sunshine to lives of vulnerable children
Xinhua
1st June 2026
China Focus. Social workers bring sunshine to lives of vulnerable children
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.
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