CDRF Heads to Youyang County, Chongqing, Investigating the Progress in “China REACH” Program
From July 6 to 8, 2021, Director Bu Fan and Deputy Program Manager Zheng Yunwei of the Child Development Center of CDRF went to Youyang County, Chongqing, to research the implementation of the “China Rural Education and Child Health (China REACH)” program over the past two years, its expansion and the direction for future development. Persons in charge of the county’s health commission, women’s federation, and health care centre for women and children also accompanied the research.
The inspection team first went to the Hongzhuang and Hongqi villages in Nanmu Township to observe the home visits conducted by the newly hired home visitors trained in December 2020. Through more than half a year of home visiting, the home visitors have become on good terms with targeted family members; the children visited were cooperative during the process. The program thus has begun to show results, receiving warm welcomes from the township governments and residents. With the support of the women’s federation of the county, all staff members of the program joined the executive committee of the women’s league at the township level to better serve the villages. The township leaders introduced the construction and operation of the children’s activity centres in Nanmu Township and expressed their continuous support for the program.
Subsequently, the inspection team went to the town of Lixi, where the program was planned to expand, and introduced the operation of the “China REACH” program to the township government and the person in charge of the town’s health centre. The team, along with the township person-in-charge, randomly investigated two households with children aged six to thirty-six months old to keep abreast of detailed information on the needs of families for parenting guidance services and the operation of childcare services in townships. Related departments of the county government indicated that they would actively summarise their experiences in the previous phase of the program. They would also report in time to leaders and higher authorities concerned, make early decisions on the expansion plan, and increase the government’s input to the program to bring benefits of the “China REACH” to more families.
