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LCQ4: Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project
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     Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Kwok-che and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (March 17):

Question:

     The Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project, which has been implemented since October 2008, provides more flexible forms of day care services for children aged under six to meet the needs of the parents at the neighbourhood level.  At present, the Project in respect of each administrative district of the Social Welfare Department is operated by only one operating organisation.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the details of the operation of the Project by various operating organisations, including fees charged for the services, average numbers of person-times using the services and utilisation rates per month, etc.;

(b) whether it will review the existing upper age limit of children eligible for the care services and the service hours; and

(c) whether it will expand the Project so that each administrative district may have more than one organisation operating the Project?

Reply:

President,

     It is the responsibility of parents to take care of their young children.  To support parents who are unable to take care of their children temporarily because of work or other reasons, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has all along been providing subvention to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to run a variety of child care services.  The Department also strives to increase the flexibility of such services.

     In 2008, SWD launched the three-year Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project (NSCCP) on a pilot basis.  The NSCCP aims to provide needy parents with more flexible child care service in addition to regular services and to foster, at the same time, mutual help and care in the community.  Services include the home-based care service for children aged under six and the centre-based care group for children aged between three and under six.  Service operators recruit and train carers in the neighbourhood to take care of children in the service centres run by the operators or at the carers' homes.

     The NSCCP commenced operation in October 2008.  The first phase was launched in six districts with a higher demand for child care services (i.e. Tung Chung, Sham Shui Po, Kwai Chung, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Kwun Tong).  In March 2009, it was extended to Wong Tai Sin/Sai Kung, Kowloon City/Yau Tsim Mong, Tai Po/North, Sha Tin and Eastern/Wan Chai, thereby covering all the 11 administrative districts of SWD.  At present, the NSCCP is run by 11 different service operators in their respective responsible districts.

     My reply to the three parts of the Hon Cheung Kwok-che's question is set out below:

(a) Since the implementation of the NSCCP, service operators have maintained close liaison with relevant groups, organisations and social service units to develop child carers network in the community.  On the number of service places, SWD requires each service operator to provide at least 40 service places, including 26 home-based child care places and 14 centre-based care group places, in its respective district.  Therefore, the entire NSCCP provides at least 440 service places in total (including 286 home-based child care places and 154 centre-based care group places).  Some service operators would increase the number of service places on a need basis in order to meet the service demand.  As for the utilisation rate, the average monthly number of children benefiting from the NSCCP during April to December 2009 was 430.

     The fees for the NSCCP service are determined by service operators with prior approval from SWD.  At present, the basic fees for home-based child care service range from $18 to $24 per hour while those for centre-based care group range from $13 to $24 per hour.  Families with financial difficulties will be granted fee waiving or reduction, subject to their passing the social need and means tests.

     Detailed information about the operation of individual service operators is at Annex which has been distributed to members.

(b) To meet different service needs, the various kinds of child care services subsidised by SWD have different service targets.  The service targets of the NSCCP are young children under the age of six.  That said, in exceptional circumstances (e.g. when there is an urgent need for child care services because of sudden events), service operators will provide temporary service for children aged six or above on a discretionary basis to ensure that the concerned children can be taken care of properly.

     The service needs of children aged six or above are not entirely the same.  We understand that many parents expect the service operators to provide homework guidance etc. to children aged above six in addition to the basic care services.  We believe that the After School Care Programme (ASCP) targeting children aged six to 12, instead of the NSCCP, can better meet their needs.  Services provided under the ASCP include homework guidance, meal service, parental guidance and education, skills learning and social activities, etc.   SWD provides fee waiving or reduction to needy low income families.

     On service hours, the centre-based care group under the NSCCP operates up to at least 9pm on weekdays, and provides at least one service session on weekends.  Urged by the SWD, most of the service operators also provide additional service sessions in response to the actual demand.  The service hours of the home-based child care service are even longer.  It operates from 7am to 11pm daily (including weekends and holidays) and overnight service can be provided in exceptional circumstances.

     We believe that the operating hours and flexibility of the two kinds of services under the NSCCP should be able to meet the needs of most parents who are unable to take care of their children temporarily because of work or other reasons.  SWD will continue to maintain close liaison with the service operators to monitor the operation of the NSCCP.

(c) The NSCCP is still in its pilot stage and this will end in the first quarter in 2011.  SWD will review the effectiveness and operation of the NSCCP by the end of this year.  Upon completion of the review, we will decide on the way forward for the NSCCP having regard to the review outcome and the best interests of children.

Ends/Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:20

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