LCQ17: Strengthening support for foster care service
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Question:
The Social Welfare Department implements the foster care service to provide residential family care for children aged under 18 who cannot be adequately taken care of by their families due to family problems or crises. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the following information in the past five years: (i) the respective annual numbers of foster families, foster children and children waiting to be placed, as well as the respective average time for which the children waited to be placed and stayed with the foster family; (ii) the respective numbers of children for whom matching with foster family was unsuccessful or underway; (iii) the average monthly number of ordinary foster families available for matching (including foster families providing short-term relief care only), and its percentage in the number of children awaiting matches;
(2) given the findings of previous questionnaire surveys that nearly 20 per cent of foster parents had expressed their intention to withdraw from the service within three years due to health issues, stress or life planning concerns, whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the wastage rate of foster families in the past five years and the primary reasons for wastage; of the specific and long-term measures in place to retain existing foster families (particularly those with extensive experience or long service) and to increase the number of foster families, so as to shorten the waiting time of children;
(3) given that foster parents in Hong Kong are generally of advanced age, raising public concern about the sustainability of the foster care service, whether the Government has compiled statistics on the age distribution of foster parents in the past five years (including the ratio among parents aged 60 or above, between 50 and 59, and below 50); of the plans in place to attract young families to participate in providing foster care service, such as offering flexible care arrangements or strengthening support for working parents; and
(4) whether any policy is currently in place to prohibit foster families from maintaining contact with children upon completion of service; if so, (i) whether the Government will review the relevant policies to allow arrangements for flexible contact, subject to the condition that the well-being of children is protected; (ii) whether there is any mechanism in place to assess the impact of separation from foster families on children's psychological development; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Foster care service provides transitional, family-based residential care for children under the age of 18 who cannot be adequately cared for by their families due to family issues or emergencies, so that they can continue to enjoy family life until they can reunite with their families or a long-term alternative welfare arrangement is reached. The Social Welfare Department (SWD) commissions non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to deliver foster care services through subventions. Their work includes promoting the service, recruiting foster families and matching children with suitable foster families.
The consolidated reply to the questions raised by the Reverend Canon the Hon Peter Douglas Koon is as follows:
(1) The SWD and service operators match children in need with suitable foster families. Whether a suitable match can be made depends on multiple factors, including the special needs of the children and case circumstances, preferred district, the willingness of the foster families, etc. Therefore, even if there are foster families available for matching, it takes time for each case to match with a suitable foster family. The number of children under matching and waitlisting for foster care service have included those who have not been successfully matched during that period.
The number of children under matching and waitlisting for foster care service, the average waiting time, the number of children receiving foster care service, and their average length of stay in the past five years are tabulated below:
| Year | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 (as at end 2025) |
| Number of children under matching and waitlising for foster care service | 314 | 289 | 292 | 240 | 234 |
| Average waiting time (month) | 1.66 | 1.82 | 2.04 | 1.71 | 1.95 |
| Number of children successfully matched and receiving foster care service | 921 | 892 | 863 | 938 | 950 |
| Average length of stay (month) | 31.16 | 34.90 | 38.33 | 29.88 | 33.69 |
The average number of ordinary foster families available for matching (including relief foster families) per month in the past five years are tabulated below:
| Year | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 (as at end 2025) |
| Average number of Ordinary Foster Families available for matching (including relief foster families) per month | 59 | 52 | 66 | 102 | 132 |
(2) to (3) According to the information of the Central Foster Care Unit of the SWD, the number of registered foster families has increased from 954 in 2021-22 to 1 112 in 2025-26 (as at end 2025), representing an increase of about 16.6 per cent. Whereas the number of foster families withdrawn from service has decreased from 71 to 31, representing a decrease of about 56.3 per cent. The primary reasons for withdrawing from foster care service include caring for other family members or personal plans, such as travelling or taking a break. The number of registered foster families and foster families withdrawn from service in the past five years are tabulated below:
| Year | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 (as at end 2025) |
| Number of registered foster families | 954 | 952 | 978 | 1 050 | 1 112 |
| Number of foster families withdrawn from service | 71 | 69 | 53 | 40 | 31 |
The age distribution of foster parents in the past five years are tabulated below:
| Age distribution of foster parents | Year (as at December 31) | ||||
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Below 50 | 19.4% | 19.9% | 16.9% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| 50 to 59 | 39.4% | 37.7% | 32% | 29.7% | 28.6% |
| 60 or above | 41.2% | 42.4% | 51.1% | 52.6% | 52.3% |
The Government has been promoting foster-family-friendly measures, including tax exemption for the incentive payments for foster parents. Starting from April 1, 2024, half of the incentive payments (including incentive payment for foster parents/foster parents (emergency) and various extra incentive payments) received under foster care service of the SWD are exempted from income calculation for the purpose of public rental housing application and Well-off Tenants Policies declaration.
To further strengthen support for foster care services and encourage more dedicated individuals to become foster parents, the Government has implemented a series of enhancement measures in recent years, including substantial increase of the incentive payment for foster parents from April 2024. The monthly incentive payment of ordinary foster care service has been increased more than double from around $5,000 to about $11,000; and that for emergency foster care service has been doubled from around $6,600 to about $13,000.
The SWD has also launched a "one-plus-one" recruitment scheme in January 2024 to encourage members of the public who are interested in providing foster care service to submit applications together with their relatives and friends for taking care of the same foster child, so that they can swiftly stand in for one another when one party is temporarily unable to provide care. The scheme facilitates mutual support between the shared households and also saves the need for a foster child to be arranged to stay in an unfamiliar living environment.
Moreover, starting from January 2025, the Government has allocated additional resources to strengthen support to foster parents and enhance service quality, including increasing manpower of social workers in NGOs, providing training and professional support for foster parents to enhance their knowledge, skills and confidence in taking care of foster children, providing extra support for foster children with special learning or care needs and arranging early assessments and appropriate professional rehabilitation therapy and training for them, which could also alleviate the caregiving stress of foster parents. The SWD will continue to collaborate with NGOs that provide foster care service to conduct promotion through various channels and media, including the use of mobile promotion vehicles to promote foster care and inviting foster parents to share their experiences of caring for foster children on media platforms so as to recognise their dedication and contribution and raise public awareness of foster care service.
In addition, the SWD proactively drives targeted groups and individuals to promote and participate in foster care service, including liaising with various Government departments and organisations to conduct briefing sessions on foster care service for their staff, with a view to encouraging them to become foster parents or participate in foster care service in different ways.
(4) On whether it is appropriate for foster families and foster children to maintain contact upon completion of service, foster care workers and caseworkers would assess and consider various factors on an individual case basis. Since the situation of each case varies, such arrangement cannot be generalised. Before leaving the foster family, foster children may exhibit emotional or behavioural reactions that differ from usual. Foster care workers would proactively provide suitable support to foster parents and foster children, and to help children understand that staying in a foster home is a transitional residential care, and also explain to them the arrangements following their departure so as to prepare them mentally.
Service operators providing foster care will also provide follow-up services for no less than three months after a child has left the foster home, so as to ensure their daily lives are properly arranged. If foster children encounter difficulties facing separation, caseworkers would refer children in need to clinical psychological services upon assessment. Depending on the actual circumstances of the cases, they would also liaise with the children's parents/guardians and relevant parties to make appropriate recommendations or arrangements for the children to maintain contact with the foster parents after leaving the foster home.
Ends/Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:25
Issued at HKT 12:25
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