This chapter introduces the alternative care policies in the research cities – Beijing, Taiyuan, Datong, Urumqi and Nanning. The institutions’ policies and practices during the children's childhood and when they reach late teenage years affect the quality of the transition of young people out of care, such as whether they are required to leave, are supported to leave, have the capacity to leave and understand the benefits of leaving. The policies and practices affect the expectations and capacity of young people to achieve social inclusion in their young adulthood and to experience their rights to transition towards independent living in the same way as their peers in their communities, as well as support them to avoid the risks of social exclusion. The chapter is background to understanding the choices open to the young people who grew up in the guardianship of these institutions examined in later chapters.

Beijing and its districts’ child welfare institution

Beijing Municipality has multiple child welfare institutions because the city is so large, with over 20 million people. The approach to alternative care in Beijing is similar to other parts of the country, relying on adoption for a permanent family placement as the preferred approach. Otherwise, institutional care remains the dominant type. Two locations in Beijing, Daxing District and rural Yanqing County, have a 15-year history of foster care.

The information about the policy and its implementation in this chapter are from the city's policies about supporting young people in care and children with disabilities, as well as from interviews with young people who had left state care and were living independently. The Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau formulated the policy in 2009 which stipulated that young people in care must leave welfare institutions to live an independent life, as described in Chapter Four. Many young people do leave care, supported by the local governments where they initially became a state ward.

Beijing Child Welfare Institution

The Beijing Child Welfare Institution is the municipal-level welfare institution for children in state care, founded in 1984. It is located in Qinghe Town, Haidian District. Its main function is to receive children from districts and counties of the city. In the past, it looked after children aged under 14 years.