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More than 400 child carers working voluntarily under the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project (NSCCP) were commended at a ceremony organised by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) today (March 1) and thanked for enthusiastically providing child care services and demonstrating a spirit of mutual help and care in the community.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Social Welfare, Ms Carol Yip, said that the SWD implemented a pilot project in 2008 in six districts that had a higher child care service demand, so as to help needy parents who had difficulty taking care of their young children due to work or emergency situations, and prevent possible accidents resulting from children being left unattended. The NSCCP extended its coverage across the territory in October 2011, with one non-governmental organisation running a district-based service in each district.
"To improve service quality, the SWD enhanced the NSCCP in October 2014 by adding 234 service quotas to make the total provision no less than 954, lifting the age limit of service recipients from six to nine, and increasing funding to strengthen the service administration and training of volunteer carers. These initiatives are aimed at providing better services for more families in need," Ms Yip said.
At the ceremony, Ms Yip expressed her gratitude to the volunteer carers for their work, which they accomplish in addition to taking care of their own families, thus demonstrating a spirit of mutual assistance in the community. She also extended her heartfelt thanks to the operators and said she hoped they would continue to support the NSCCP together with the volunteer carers. By doing so, they would help to build a network of care in the community for needy families, she added.
Today's ceremony was co-organised by the 15 NSCCP operators and commendations were presented to about 450 volunteer carers from 18 districts.
Volunteer carers render child care services to their neighbours in the district where they live. In addition to having enthusiasm and a caring heart, NSCCP volunteer carers are assessed by social workers regarding their family situation and individual abilities. This is followed by training in child care skills, the identification of child abuse cases and home safety, and other matters.
The recruitment, assessment and training of volunteer carers are managed and supervised by registered social workers of NSCCP operators to ensure service quality. Presently, some 1 700 NSCCP carers are serving in the community.
According to statistics on service utilisation, about 34,000 children benefitted from the work of the NSCCP from October 2011 to the end of last year. For details of the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project, please visit the website of the SWD at www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_family/sub_listofserv/id_childcares/.
Ends/Sunday, March 1, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:40
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