Tongfang Academy
Micro Party Class · Issue 306
Promote the high-quality development of social work in the new era.
“Theoretical cultivation is the core of the comprehensive quality of Party members and cadres. Theoretical maturity is the foundation for political maturity, and political steadfastness stems from theoretical clarity.” For Party members and cadres, fostering a fine academic style and strengthening theoretical education are both fundamental requirements for cultivating Party spirit and an inescapable political responsibility.
Tongfang Law Firm provides all its lawyers with learning opportunities in the form of micro-party classes, thereby enhancing their ideological and political awareness as well as their spirit of learning and inquiry. By establishing a long-term educational mechanism, the firm has created a new platform for self-education and self-improvement.
Social work is an important component of the Party and the state’s undertakings, crucial to the Party’s long-term governance and the country’s enduring stability and security, and vital to social harmony, stability, and the happiness and well-being of the people. Recently, the Central Conference on Social Work was held in Beijing. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered important instructions, emphasizing the need to “unswervingly follow the path of socialist social governance with Chinese characteristics” and “promote high-quality development of social work in the new era.” This not only reflects the high importance attached to social work by the Party and the state, but also marks the entry of China’s social work into a new stage of development.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, with the successive introduction of a series of important policies, social work has surged with new vitality in enhancing people’s quality of life and promoting social development, thus opening up a new chapter in “China’s governance.” Guided by the development philosophy centered on the people, social work has been deeply integrated with livelihood initiatives, leading to continuous improvements in policies and systems and ongoing enhancements in institutional mechanisms. Various inclusive measures aimed at benefiting the people have synergized to draw an even clearer blueprint for jointly creating a better life. Over the years, localities have actively explored effective approaches to strengthening Party building in emerging fields, expanding both the organizational and working coverage of the Party, uniting and rallying the most dynamic forces in economic and social development, and leading the masses to move forward together. As a bridge and link for communicating public sentiment and民意, social work, through extensively listening to public opinion and pooling collective wisdom, transforms the people’s “golden ideas” into “golden keys” for urban governance, yielding “golden fruits” that benefit and serve the people. In the practice of innovating social governance, by establishing collaborative networks across departments and sectors, social forces are encouraged to participate widely, driving social governance to continuously deepen and advance. These initiatives and achievements highlight the distinctive advantages of socialist social governance with Chinese characteristics, providing strong support for achieving common prosperity and advancing Chinese-style modernization. Looking ahead, social work must actively integrate into the broader framework of the national governance system, focus on reforming and innovating institutional mechanisms, continuously improve the social work system and mechanisms, and promote high-quality development of social work.
Optimize top-level design, leverage institutional advantages, and further refine the social governance system. The Party’s comprehensive leadership is an institutional advantage that drives continuous innovation and development in social work. By strengthening the guiding role of Party organizations, social work can better serve and benefit the people. In carrying out social work, we should also enhance coordinated collaboration with other departments, improve decision-making and implementation mechanisms, and ensure that policies are effectively implemented and yield tangible results. At present, a large number of new economic and social organizations are emerging, and the scale of new employment groups continues to expand. As a result, the clientele of social work has become more diverse, and their needs have grown increasingly complex, making cross-departmental collaboration crucial. We can enhance the overall efficiency of decision-making and implementation by establishing joint working mechanisms and improving regular communication channels. Moreover, we must strengthen institutional development, establish a nationally unified policy framework for social work, facilitate the integration of social work resources and standardize management, provide clear guidance for the implementation of social work policies across different regions, and ensure that social work progresses steadily and sustainably within the national governance system.
Focusing on grassroots communities, we will continue to promote governance innovation and further enhance governance effectiveness. Grassroots communities are the core units of social governance. By exploring innovative governance approaches and establishing scientific governance mechanisms, we can ensure that social work effectively meets the practical needs of residents at the grassroots level. We can extend the “community + social worker + volunteer” service model to the grassroots level, leveraging the synergistic effects of these three actors in grassroots governance. We can also draw on Beijing’s innovative practices such as “streets and townships give the signal, departments respond” and “address complaints immediately upon receipt.” By refining the multi-level management of social work, we can ensure that public demands are swiftly relayed to the relevant departments, thereby enhancing the grassroots’ capacity and efficiency in addressing social issues. On this basis, we will continuously strengthen process reengineering and enhance the preventive and developmental functions of social work, resolving conflicts during the early prevention and source-control stages. Through professional services, we will boost individuals’ and families’ sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. With the rapid advancement of information and digital technologies, technology has become a crucial tool for driving the transformation and upgrading of governance. For example, Zhejiang Province has achieved comprehensive digital governance deployment through its integrated smart governance system at the grassroots level. Relying on the social governance center platform, it coordinates resources from public security, procuratorates, courts, social organizations, and volunteers. This approach not only enables it to tackle complex social issues but also maintains the flexibility and stability of governance, providing new practical pathways for social work.
Cultivating specialized and highly skilled professionals, enhancing overall capabilities, and further strengthening the quality of the social work workforce—this is essential for building a robust foundation for social governance. To achieve this, we must develop a systematic training program aimed at improving the political awareness, management skills, and professional competence of social workers and grassroots cadres. Through comprehensive professional knowledge and skill training covering all personnel, as well as established assessment and feedback mechanisms and lifelong learning initiatives, we can ensure that social workers become thoroughly familiar with relevant policies and master necessary skills, thereby laying a solid human resource foundation for delivering efficient social services. At the same time, we should continuously promote the development of community workers’ comprehensive competencies. On the premise of clearly defining competency standards for community workers and establishing occupational skill levels for social workers, we can set up a two-way benchmarking and recognition mechanism to facilitate the certification of community workers’ professional skills and enhance their overall capabilities. The development of social work education and the cultivation of specialized talent are equally critical. To this end, we must accelerate structural reforms in social work talent development: on the one hand, we should support the establishment of specialized doctoral programs in the field of social work to nurture high-level, practice-oriented professionals; on the other hand, we should explore ways to streamline the certification process for social work professionals and, through policy guidance, provide social work practitioners with broader opportunities for career development and advancement.
Now that the wind is favorable, it’s precisely the right time to hoist the sails and bravely ride the waves across vast horizons. Faced with new circumstances and fresh tasks, social workers at large must embrace their new mission and demonstrate new achievements. We are confident that, through the joint efforts and collaborative spirit of all sectors of society, social work in the new era will surely write a brilliant chapter of high-quality development—infusing vigorous vitality and momentum to make social governance more efficient and ensure enduring well-being for the people.
Source | People's Daily Online, Official Website for Party History Study and Education
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Tongfang Academy Micro-Party Class, Episode 307: The “Dark-Faced” Chief Prosecutor—Remembering Yao Wenhua, the “National Model Prosecutorial Cadre”
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Tongfang Academy Micro-Party Class, Issue 305: Uphold Integrity and Promote Innovation to Continuously Achieve New Breakthroughs in Reform
