Legal hotline set up for Beijing social workers

A hotline specializing in solving disputes involving social workers in Beijing has been in operation since Tuesday, according to a law firm in charge of the project.

Each year, lawyers from the Winteam 500 Law Group will provide at least 30,000 hours of legal consultation for the capital's social workers and their family members to help them effectively alleviate social problems as well as solve their own disputes.

Social workers play a growing role in maintaining stability in the city, such as supporting drug control and poverty relief, a statement from the law group said.

"Social work is not an easy job. More than 3,000 lawyers in our company can be the social workers' legal assistants, making their work more professional," said Sun Zaichen, head of the law group.

Xu Jiufei, director of the volunteering service department with the Beijing Association of Social Workers, said it will be a win-win project, "because lawyers can make our work more innovative and improve our ability in social governance".