DEVOTED HELPERS: Staff members and interns at the Rainbow Social Work Service Agency (COURTESY OF RAINBOW SOCIAL WORK SERVICE AGENCY)

Nonetheless, they sometimes succeed in gaining the trust of young people. Zhang said that a young man they met at an Internet cafe surnamed Wang even volunteered to help. Wang grew up in a wealthy family. He started a small business when he was still a teenager, but later it did not do well and he lost interest in it. Finally, he closed down his business and chose to stay at home. Wang often spends the night at Internet cafés. He introduced Zhang's team to the managers of several Internet cafes that he frequented, and told the managers to inform the social workers when they saw young night drifters.

Young people hang out for different reasons. Rainbow assorted at-risk youth into four categories, and offers them different follow-up services, Zhang said.

The green group is of the lowest risk and usually does not need help from social workers. This category includes classmates gathering at restaurants till 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., or students burning midnight oil while eating at 24-hour restaurants such as McDonald's and KFC.

The blue group consists of high school or university graduates who have not found a job and are idling away their time. Social workers usually hand out brochures to this group, offering them free training and career consulting services.

The yellow group includes young people who have left home after some incidents, such as strife with parents or domestic violence. In such cases, social workers will communicate with their guardians and offer temporary accommodation if necessary.

The red group refers to youngsters who have behavioral disorders or are involved in emergency situations such as street fights. Social workers will intervene to solve the problems.

Zhang said that most young night drifters they had met are aged 18-23, and belong to the low-risk green and blue groups. While minors make up a small proportion of night drifters, they tend to belong to high-risk groups.

Extending services

Rainbow was officially registered as a professional social service agency in December 2010. It was founded by Fan Yanning, Dean of the Social Service Department of the Capital Normal University, who is experienced in community-based juvenile corrections and development.

Helping youth is one of Rainbow's focuses. The Overnight Outreach program is part of the agency's youth-oriented programs.

Rainbow now has more than 40 social workers, mostly college graduates from social work or related majors, and nearly one fourth have passed government certification for social workers. A majority of them are based in neighborhoods and office buildings.

Regular training is offered to all the agency's employees and the dozen or so volunteers. Every other Friday, social workers meet to share their experiences, and outside experts are invited to give instructions.

In addition to helping young people they bump into during nights out, Rainbow also helps at-risk youth at the request of their parents or communities.

Known for his pseudonym Chang, the 17-year-old third-grade junior middle school student lives with his mother and step father after his biological parents divorced. He often quarreled with his mother, who also has a quick temper. Once, he even threatened his parents with a knife. Last year, Chang dropped out of school.

In the past months, Rainbow's social workers visited Chang's family several times, spending time with the boy and his parents. With the family's consent, they also gave the boy a puppy as a pet, for pet is found to have healing effect on children with disorders such as autism. Chang was also invited to group activities organized by the agency. In February, the boy returned to school to finish his studies.

In recent years, the government has attached great importance to the development of social services and social management. Last November, 18 central government agencies released a joint statement, specifying the target to employ 2 million social workers by 2015, which is about 10 times the current size of social worker force.

The statement also encourages local government departments to purchase social services delivered by charitable and non-profit organizations, and include the expense in budget.

Now most of Rainbow's services have been purchased by the Haidian District Government.

On March 7, the agency signed a six-month cooperative agreement with the Haidian District Committee of the Communist Youth League of China on helping NEET youth, which is part of the government's efforts to prevent juvenile delinquency. NEET is an acronym for people currently "not in education, employment, or training."

Under the agreement, Rainbow has four government-paid social workers for the NEET program and will receive 500 yuan ($79) in subsidy for each adolescent it has helped under the Overnight Outreach program.

Email us at: wanghairong@bjreview.com