China sees more social forces in community correction work

Since the implementation of the community correction law three years ago, China sees more social forces engaging in community correction work, according to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).

To date, China has 58,000 social workers participating in the community corrections, a growth of 29.1 percent compared to before the law came into effect on July 1, 2020.

Law enforcement targeted at specific fields has been further enhanced, with the legal foundation at the grassroots level consolidated. Local governments have selected and recruited 12,000 specialized national staff.

In 2020, the MOJ formulated and issued a circular on the construction standards for community correction centers, comprehensively renovating and upgrading the country's correction centers. To date, there are 2,922 community correction centers nationwide at county and village levels, achieving the goal of equipping each county with a least one correction center.

The participation of social forces is a distinctive feature of community correction work. The MOJ will intensify efforts to cultivate a group of professional social organizations and workers who will engage in community correction work. The ministry will expand channels and provide more legal and institutional guarantees for those organizations and workers to participate in community correction work, according to an official of the MOJ.

In addition, measures will be introduced to improve the salary and welfare benefits of full-time social workers, strengthen training and supervision mechanisms and to establish and improve the incentive mechanism.

The government procurement of social work services for community correction will also be enhanced, with relevant funds to be included in the fiscal budget to provide financial guarantees for community correction work across the country.