Li Xiangjun (a pseudonym), a 15-year-old boy who had been arrested for stealing a mobile phone, did not know what to think when Xu Ting approached him at the police station and introduced himself as Li's "appropriate adult".

Nor could he have known that Xu, a social worker, would help him turn his life around.

"He was very friendly with me, and when saw him, I instinctively knew he would help me work past my past sins," Li said, now 17.

The term appropriate adult comes from a British law dating back to the mid-1980s under which people who are younger than 17 and adults who are considered to be "mentally vulnerable" must have an adult with them during police questioning. Its goal is to safeguard the rights young people and vulnerable adults in custody.

According to the website of Britain's National Appropriate Adult Network, an appropriate adult can be a family member, friend, a volunteer or healthcare professional.

The program was the inspiration for a recently completed pilot project in Yunnan Province in which Li, Xu and 748 other juvenile delinquents were participants.

And it looks set to expand across the country.

Successful pilot launch

The Beijing Times reported that the pilot was so successful that the second-phase was launched on January 18.

Li Jianming, a police officer who helps with the project, said police in Beijing and Anhui Province, among others, would soon launch their own pilot projects.

In the Panlong Area of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, 10 social workers like Xu have been working as appropriate adults for the juvenile offenders since May 1, 2005.

Xu Jian, a professor at the East China Institute of Politics and Laws and the president of China's Juvenile Crime Studies Association, said appropriate adults would not only help protect non-adult criminals, but also protect police officers because they would be able to confirm the credibility of the evidence the police collected.

Li Jianming said that under the program, a special team of professionals, including judges, lawyers, doctors and social workers, evaluated every case involving a non-adult suspect to decide whether the suspect would be detained.

The 749 participants in the pilot were not put in jail and were allowed to live normal lives as long as they stayed with their parents or appropriate adults.

For example, during his weekends, Li Xiangjun generally goes to basketball practise, which Li Jianming organizes at the local rehabilitation centre. However, the chance to talk casually with some of the other appropriate adults is the highlight of the sessions.

"I like talking with my aunt, Wang Weihong," said Li Xiangjun.

Wang, 55, is not actually Li's aunt. She is one of the 150 volunteers who participate in the project.

Volunteers

Wang is a doctor at the Yunnan No 1 Hospital. When she heard about the project, she decided to offer her services, and has since played a crucial role in helping Li Xiangjun maintain a positive and healthy attitude.

The informal chats and basketball practise sessions with Li Jianming, Xu Ting and Wang Weihong are all part of the rehabilitation process.

"If I had been thrown in prison, without their help, I might have become a real criminal when I grew up," Li Xiangjun said.

Legal experts have praised such programs and some even said they should be written into law.

However, insiders have said that funding for rehabilitation projects remains scarce.

For example, the pilot project in Yunnan was wholly sponsored by the Embassy of the Netherlands, though the 4.3 million yuan ($555,000) in funding ran out in June 2006.

The embassy recently provided 4.15 million yuan ($536,000) for the second phase, which is to expire in October 2009.

The program aims to give juvenile offenders more love and care to help them steer clear of crime.

Insiders said the Ford Fund would help pay for the pilot in Beijing, while the NGO Save the Children would support the project in Anhui.

Editor: Wing