The Bureau of Xenosophont Wellness and Care, sometimes shortened to Xenosophont Wellness, is a branch office of the Affini Compact's bureaucracy. Its goal is to ensure the well-being of each and every non-affini sophont under the Compact's care, not dissimilar to the stated goals of corporate social work done on wealthier worlds under the Terran Accord minus means testing, other discriminatory practices, and their focus on service to capitalism.
More specific functions include covering end of life care, disability assistance, outpatient care, performing wellness checks, and other social work activities.
On smaller ships and colonies, there usually isn't a full time branch office, and Xenosophont Wellness is handled by xenoveterinarians, local affini, and the local Office of Records and Rituals, the usual name for affini bureaucracy offices, which acts as oversight for the others.
In this article, the term “independent” refers to the legal status of a given sophont as not a floret, not a statement on self-sufficiency.
The BXWC handles cases of those who need regular social worker visits to assist in various day to day tasks, but are otherwise fine to live independently with regular external support. The Affini Compact goes out of its way to accommodate as many disabilities as possible in day to day life, but some sophonts need (or prefer) an actual care worker to handle their needs - no affini would ever dare make them feel bad for that!
Oftentimes after major medical care, both in support of physical and mental health, sophonts require additional assistance while they complete their recovery at home. The BXWC ensures every sophont receives the very best personalized care during this time, not unlike the care offered through their disability assistance services. As part of the sophont’s discharge process, they may receive a caseworker to help guide them through their recovery.
BXWC case workers will handle end of life care for many xenosophonts, as the needed care to ensure the Compact’s standards steadily become a very involved and exhausting task for their loved ones to perform without assistance. Between the efforts of the BXWC and affini medical capabilities, the Compact ensures no one suffers during their twilight years.
"I lapsed on the word, petal. The Bureau of Xenosophont Wellness and Care would not have sent me to handle a wellness check if I wasn't trained in terran care and grooming needs. It helps me assess when adorable little terrans like you are struggling to care for yourselves and in what ways."
- Cyathea Brownii, Fourth Bloom, in Wellness Check Chapter 1 by Darkfalli
While the great armadas of the Compact and the many affini volunteers catch and domesticate ferals and other xenosophonts who are a danger to others, the BXWC is in charge of handling those who are a danger to themselves, either actively through self-harm or passively through neglect.
If an affini sees a sophont who might need a wellness check, they will send a report to the BXWC can take steps to ensure that they can maintain the quality of life that the Compact aims to give all sophonts. Xenosophonts are also able to inform the Bureau of someone who may need help, at which point an affini will review the case to prevent it from being used as a form of bureaucratic harassment.
During an initial take over, the BXWC identifies sophonts potentially in need of wellness checks before the affini begin seizing whatever ship, station, or world they visit, working closely with the Office of Transitional Neoxenoveterinary Archeobureaucracy. Ensuring the survival of each and every sophont is of the utmost importance and no affini would dream of letting someone fall through the cracks because they were too stubborn or scared to reach out for help.
Once it is determined a xenosophont needs a wellness check an affini trained in care and evaluation is sent to check on the sophont in question and determine the level of assistance, if any, a sophont requires to bloom. This can range from a single quick but thorough checkup to regular care visits to being assigned a formal wardship under an affini, either the case worker or another suitable volunteer. A case worker is given access to habitation unit records and other private data records to ensure nothing is missed.
That said, simply being too disabled to take care of oneself is not enough to land one in a wardship. Usually, regular care visits, possibly having a full time caseworker on call for any needs, is sufficient for independent xenosophonts. On the other hand, wardships are for those in need of care to achieve the Compact's standards for wellness, but have demonstrated they refuse to seek that care or ask for necessary assistance, but could improve with love and support and assistance integrating into Compact culture. In a few cases, wardships are also for already closed cases to ease them into ownership.
The standards for a xenosophont’s wellness are actually rather easy to achieve, given accessible free (and sometimes self-cleaning!) homes, compilers ensuring most objects one might need are immediately available, hab AI's that adapt to accommodate their sophonts needs, flexible appointment schedules and home visits, advanced physical and mental health care that's usually a single message away, and often thousands of affini and other sophonts who would love nothing more than to assist you in anything you need. As such, a majority of those who end up needing a wardship or more involved regular wellness checks end up domesticated into florets.
For many used to the deeply flawed medical institutions of their prior civilization, the affini's competence, dedication, and genuine desire to help means that the level of care the BXWC helps provide is exactly what a little cutie needs to be their best self, and not a leaf less!