Community Care Fund extends Pilot Scheme for Elderly Carers Phase III and Pilot Scheme for Carers of Persons with Disabilities Phase II and rolls out new phases of pilot schemes
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The Community Care Fund (CCF) today (September 30) announced the extension of the Pilot Scheme on Living Allowance for Carers of Elderly Persons from Low-income Families (Pilot Scheme for Elderly Carers) Phase III and the Pilot Scheme on Living Allowance for Low-income Carers of Persons with Disabilities (Pilot Scheme for Carers of Persons with Disabilities) Phase II for six months from October 2020 up to the end of March 2021 under the current mode of operation, and the launching of new phases of the Pilot Scheme for Elderly Carers and the Pilot Scheme for Carers of Persons with Disabilities from April 2021 to September 2023.
The two pilot schemes are continuously administered by the Social Welfare Department (SWD), with details as follows:
(1) Pilot Scheme for Elderly Carers Phase IV
The Pilot Scheme for Elderly Carers was first launched in June 2014 and the SWD launched Phase II and Phase III of the pilot scheme in October 2016 and October 2018 respectively with the aim of providing carers of elderly persons from low-income families with a living allowance to help supplement their living expenses so that elderly persons in need of long-term care services may, under the help of their carers, receive proper care and continue to age in the community.
Phase IV of the Pilot Scheme for Elderly Carers will commence in April 2021 and last for 30 months, benefiting an additional 2 000 eligible elderly carers and making up a total of 8 000 beneficiaries for the four phases of the pilot scheme.
Eligible elderly carers shall meet all of the following criteria:
- the elderly person(s) being taken care of must be living in Hong Kong and assessed under the SWD's Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services as having a moderate or severe level of impairment, and has/have been on the Central Waiting List for subsidised long-term care services (i.e. residential care services and/or community care services) on or before November 30, 2018;
- the elderly person(s) being taken care of must be living in the community without using any residential care service while the carer is applying for and receiving the allowance;
- the carer must be capable of taking up the caregiving role and is required to provide at least 80 hours of caregiving work per month, or not less than 120 hours per month for taking care of more than one eligible elderly person at the same time;
- the carer must be a Hong Kong resident who is living in Hong Kong and not engaged in any form of employment relationship with the elderly person(s) under his/her care;
- the carer must not be a recipient of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), Old Age Living Allowance, or an allowance in respect of taking care of the same elderly person under Phase III of the Pilot Scheme for Carers of Persons with Disabilities; and
- the monthly household income of the carer must not exceed 75 per cent of the relevant Median Monthly Domestic Household Income, excluding assets.
(2) Pilot Scheme for Carers of Persons with Disabilities Phase III
The Pilot Scheme for Carers of Persons with Disabilities was first launched in October 2016 and its Phase II was launched in October 2018 with the aim of providing carers of persons with disabilities from low-income families with a living allowance to help supplement their living expenses so that the persons with disabilities in need of long-term care may, with the help of their carers, receive proper care and continue living in the community.
Phase III of the Pilot Scheme for Carers of Persons with Disabilities will commence in April 2021 and last for 30 months, benefiting an additional 1 000 eligible carers and making up a total of 3 500 beneficiaries for the three phases of the pilot scheme.
Eligible carers of persons with disabilities shall meet all of the following criteria:
- the person(s) with disabilities being taken care of must be living in Hong Kong and on the waiting list on or before March 31, 2020, for any one of the specified rehabilitation services subsidised by the SWD, for special schools with boarding placement under the Education Bureau or for infirmary service of the Hospital Authority;
- the person(s) with disabilities being taken care of must be living in the community without using any residential care service/boarding service of special schools/infirmary service while the carer is applying for and receiving the allowance;
- the carer must be capable of taking up the caregiving role, and is required to provide at least 80 hours of caregiving work per month, or not less than 120 hours per month for taking care of more than one eligible person with disabilities at the same time;
- the carer must be a Hong Kong resident living in Hong Kong and not engaged in any form of employment relationship with the person(s) with disabilities under his/her care;
- the carer must not be a recipient of CSSA, Old Age Living Allowance, or an allowance in respect of taking care of the same person with disabilities under Phase IV of the Pilot Scheme for Elderly Carers; and
- the monthly household income of the carer must not exceed 75 per cent of the relevant Median Monthly Domestic Household Income, excluding assets.
A monthly allowance of $2,400 will be disbursed to each eligible elderly carer/carer of a person with disabilities, and a maximum of $4,800 per month will be disbursed to each eligible elderly carer/carer of persons with disabilities who takes care of more than one elderly person/person with disabilities at the same time. The subsidy period will start in April 2021 at the earliest, and end in September 2023 at the latest. The allowance that the elderly carer/carer of persons with disabilities received under Phase III of the Pilot Scheme for Elderly Carers or Phase II of the Pilot Scheme for Carers of Persons with Disabilities will be extended to the end of March 2021 and the responsible approved service unit under the pilot schemes will continue to provide carer support services for the carers.
The SWD will start issuing letters in batches in December 2020 to elderly persons/persons with disabilities who are on the waiting lists for the services concerned, inviting their carers to apply for the allowance if the eligibility criteria are met. Applicants are required to submit the completed application forms together with all necessary documents by post (the postmark date will be regarded as the submission date) or by hand to the CCF Team of the SWD on or before February 26, 2021. Following the completion of the vetting, applicants will be notified of the application results in writing. Approved service providers, which are responsible for providing support services, will also approach the elderly carers/carers of persons with disabilities and the elderly persons/persons with disabilities concerned to arrange support services and follow up on the arrangement for payment of the allowance accordingly. Eligible elderly carers/carers of persons with disabilities under the existing pilot schemes are not required to submit new applications. The SWD will notify them in writing of the arrangements.
Details of the above two pilot schemes can be found on the CCF website (www.communitycarefund.hk) or the SWD website (www.swd.gov.hk). For enquiries, members of the public may call the CCF Team of the SWD on 3422 3090 during office hours.
Ends/Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Issued at HKT 14:30
Issued at HKT 14:30
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