LCQ5: Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project
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Question:
The Government announced in the 2024 Policy Address that the service places under the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project (the Care Project) would be increased to 2 500, providing flexible child care services for families in need. However, an incident took place last year in the Tuen Mun District involving a suspected case of abuse leading to serious injuries of an infant under the care of a home-based child carer (HCC), arousing public concern about the service quality of HCC. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Government has increased the incentive payment for HCCs since April last year and increased the service places for HCCs in the fourth quarter of last year, of the specific measures and mechanisms put in place by the Government to enhance and ensure the quality of HCCs, particularly whether additional training has been provided for HCCs who need to take care of young children under the age of three, ethnic minority children or children with disabilities; if so, of the details;
(2) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of HCCs, their academic qualifications or professional qualifications, with a tabulated breakdown by age group (each group covering 10 years of age);
(3) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of persons who work as HCCs and take care of their own children at the same time, as well as the number of surveillance cameras installed in their homes, and set out the breakdown in a table;
(4) whether it has established a regular mechanism to access HCC services to ensure their service quality; if so, of the relevant assessment indicators;
(5) of the respective numbers of children currently using the relevant services under the Care Project and HCCs in various districts;
(6) it has been reported that the aforesaid child abuse incident took place more than 18 months ago, yet its investigation remains inconclusive, of the latest progress of the investigation into the incident; whether the Social Welfare Department has conducted an investigation into the organisation providing the relevant HCC services after the incident; if so, of the investigation results; if not, the reasons for that;
(7) as there are views that despite the dedicated efforts of healthcare personnel to treat the child injured in the aforesaid child abuse incident, the child's development is likely to be affected in the long run because of serious injuries, how the Government will provide appropriate support and assistance to the child in areas such as rehabilitation, welfare and education; and
(8) in response to the aforesaid child abuse incident, whether the Government has proposed any targeted improvement measures to enhance the service quality of the Care Project; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(1), (4) and (8) The Social Welfare Department (SWD) provides subventions to non-governmental organisations for operating the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project (NSCCP), which provides flexible day child care service at the neighbourhood level for parents with service needs.
To ensure service quality and protect children who receive services, the SWD requires service operators to establish mechanisms to recruit, assess, screen and train up home-based child carers (HCCs), and match suitable HCCs for families in need. Social workers of service operators are required to conduct regular home visits to HCCs who provide services. Child care workers of service operators also provide HCCs with monthly individual training/supervision. In addition, service operators are also required to continuously evaluate and follow up on the performance of HCCs.
From September 2024 onwards, all HCCs participating in NSCCP are required to receive 14 hours of basic training, the content of which is standardised and formulated by the SWD. The training includes infant and child (i.e. children aged below three) physical and psychological development, special development milestones and needs of growth, care and communication skills, home safety and hygiene as well as handling of accidents/special incidents, and basic knowledge related to ethnic minority children would be provided during service matching. HCCs who are arranged to take care of children with special needs (including children with special learning needs) are required to receive additional four hours of advanced training to acquire relevant knowledge and skills. As HCCs would not be arranged to take care of children with disabilities, the relevant training does not include knowledge on taking care of children with disabilities. After the completion of the training programme, service operators are required to evaluate the child care skills and knowledge of HCCs, their confidence in providing care services, and their home environment. HCCs would only be arranged to provide services if all of their aforementioned aspects are considered as satisfactory and service-ready.
(2) The number of HCCs of NSCCP as at June 2025 are tabulated by age group and educational attainment as follows:
Table 1: Age Group
| Age Group | Number of HCCs |
| 30 years old or below | 24 |
| 31 – 40 years old | 238 |
| 41 – 50 years old | 362 |
| 51 – 60 years old | 320 |
| 61 years old or above | 570 |
| Total | 1 514 |
Table 2: Educational Attainment
| Education Attainment | Number of HCCs |
| Primary education or below | 171 |
| Junior secondary education | 448 |
| Senior secondary education | 617 |
| Tertiary education | 190 |
| University or above | 88 |
| Total | 1 514 |
(3) The SWD does not maintain information on whether HCCs take care of their own children at the same time or whether they have installed surveillance cameras in their homes.
(5) The number of HCCs as at June 2025 and the number of children received services under NSCCP in 2024-25, by District Council districts, are set out at Annex.
(6) and (7) Relevant professionals, through multi-disciplinary collaboration, have been providing the child and her family with necessary assistance, which include arranging medical consultation, treatment and rehabilitation services for the child concerned, as well as counseling, financial assistance, and other support services for her family according to the care requirements of the child. The service operator concerned has submitted a report to the SWD regarding the incident, confirming that the HCC had undergone and passed the assessment of NSCCP before providing services to the child. As the Police is still investigating the case, it is not appropriate to comment on the details of the case at this stage. We will continue to provide appropriate assistance based on the needs of the child and her family.
Ends/Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Issued at HKT 11:10
Issued at HKT 11:10
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