On August 29th, the Qingdao Municipal People's Congress held a press conference to outline its oversight work on integrated civil affairs services for the elderly and children, a key area of public concern. The initiative, carried out over the past months, included site visits, research discussions, and listening to work reports.
Chen Bin, Director of the Social Development Work Office of the Municipal People's Congress, detailed that the oversight team conducted in-depth research by visiting all 10 designated service center construction sites across the city. The team engaged in one-on-one interviews with relevant individuals and organized "micro-inquiries" to fully understand the actual situation on the ground, ensuring that the supervision is grounded in reality.
Based on the findings, the Municipal People's Congress members put forward several recommendations targeting the existing challenges in elderly care service systems, child care services, and integrated services for both groups. First, they called for accelerating the high-quality development of elderly care services by refining policy frameworks, establishing a multi-department collaborative response mechanism, and optimizing subsidy policies for greater precision.
The members also emphasized strengthening the professional role of institutional care through classification reform and brand building, promoting a shift toward brand-oriented, chain-operated, and scale-based development. They stressed the need to enhance the training system for elderly care professionals and explore sustainable long-term home care models, including improving operation assessments, implementing exit mechanisms, and deepening the integration of elderly care with medical services and long-term care insurance to better meet the diverse needs of seniors.
Second, the recommendations focused on improving the precise care service system for children by enriching service supply and upgrading from "survival-oriented" to "development-oriented" care. This includes bettering tiered and categorized service measures and steadily advancing the "open-door" operation of child welfare institutions. The members also called for pooling diversified service forces, such as caring enterprises, public welfare organizations, and volunteer teams, alongside building robust grassroots service teams through routine training and incentive mechanisms.
Third, the oversight highlighted exploring integrated service models for the elderly and children. This involves improving community service facility planning, consolidating existing community resources to boost facility efficiency, and establishing a sound operation system with evaluation mechanisms and standardized guidance. They proposed detailed management rules covering access, supervision, assessment, and exit procedures to elevate service quality through institutionalization.
Moving forward, the Municipal People's Congress will intensify follow-up supervision to ensure the effective implementation of these recommendations, striving to enhance the quality and efficiency of elderly and child care services and strengthen the public's sense of gain, happiness, and security.