ZHENGZHOU -- After an hour of counseling, a couple who had previously filed for divorce over alleged extramarital affairs left Guo Yajiao's office agreeing to give their marriage another try.

"This is the first step," said Guo, a marriage counselor in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan province. "Next we'll talk with their child, who we hope can exert a positive influence on the parents."

Guo started working with local communities in the Jinshui district in January, and has since helped save over a dozen marriages.

"We persuade couples to exert caution, as divorce hurts everyone in the family, especially the child," said Guo, whose office offers a range of free consultations advising local residents how to manage family crisis.

In China, conjugal and family disputes were usually handled by public-spirited housewives from local residents' committees. This service, however, is undergoing changes as professionally trained social workers are now getting involved.

In a circular issued last November, China said it planned to employ over 1 million professional social workers by 2020 as part of the efforts to boost community service and maintain social harmony.

The campaign has benefited social workers like Guo. Thanks to her background in psychology, she now earns 50,000 yuan ($7,935) per year for her work as a full-time community counselor.

Overall, the Jinshui District government has created 26 such positions, and funds their activities which help their local communities, such as charity work, after-school clubs and care of the elderly.

"The government has come to realize it can't take care of everything and social workers can help ease the burden," said Ruan Xiaoxiang, the official in charge of social work in Jinshui District.

Important social force

Social work as a profession was first introduced in China's wealthy coastal regions and has seen rapid development there. In Shanghai, there are 1,555 full-time social workers and 68 organizations providing community services.

But professional social worker is still an unusual concept to most Chinese, who tend to confuse them with untrained volunteers engaging in seasonal charity work.

Thanks to the new supportive policy, the service is now being rolled out in more central and western cities. In Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, officials have announced that 10,000 social workers will be trained by 2015.

Zhang Mingsuo, sociology professor at Zhengzhou University, said social workers have great potential when addressing grievances in Chinese society.

"Social work can filter down and help at every level of society, easing pain and conflicts that are often invisible to the government," Zhang said.

Nevertheless, Zhang said the service still remains marginalized and lacks government support. Many services are underfunded, and training programs for social workers have lagged behind.

"Many local governments spend a lot in maintaining social stability, while neglecting the fact that social workers can actually be an important force on their side," Zhang said.