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The Director of Social Welfare, Mr Patrick Nip, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), presented awards to foster families at a ceremony today (May 5), appealing to families that are eligible to join foster care service to give love and care to needy children.
At today's "Foster Families Service Award Presentation Ceremony 2013", a total of 325 foster families were presented awards. Of them, 34 families have been providing foster care service for more than 15 years while seven of them for more than 20 years.
Mr Nip praised the selfless contributions of these foster families. They provide warm and loving homes to children whose parents are unable to take care of them, enabling the children to grow up healthily, he said.
Mr Nip also thanked social workers from the 11 NGOs which are providing foster care service for their joint efforts with SWD's Central Foster Care Unit in proactively recruiting foster families to make possible a steady development of the foster care service.
He further said that the total number of foster care places is now 1 070 after 50 more places were added last year. The Government has also increased the foster care allowance by 30 per cent and extended special incentive payment to cover families taking care of children with special needs, including those with Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism or Specific Learning Difficulties, in order to strengthen the support to the foster families and the foster children.
"Foster Families Service Award Presentation Ceremony 2013", co-organised by SWD and 11 NGOs, is one of the "Caring Hong Kong" events in support of the "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign launched in April.
During the ceremony, different awards were presented to foster families which have provided foster care services for five to more than 20 years. Special awards were also given to those taking care of children with special needs.
Established in 1982, SWD's Central Foster Care Unit oversees and co-ordinates the provision of foster care services provided by 11 NGOs currently. Foster care provides substitute family care to children whose parents cannot adequately take care of them for various reasons, so that the children can continue to enjoy family life until they can reunite with their families or when other long-term welfare plans are arranged for them. To enhance the recruitment of suitable foster homes, three NGOs have been provided with additional subventions since December 2012 to operate cluster-based foster home pools and directly recruit foster homes on Hong Kong Island, in West Kowloon and New Territories East respectively.
As at end of March, 2013, there were 910 foster families and 917 children receiving foster care service.
Members of the public who are interested in joining foster care service are advised to visit the SWD website www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_family/sub_listofserv/id_fostercare/ or contact the intake worker of the Central Foster Care Unit who is on duty at 2573 2282.
Ends/Sunday, May 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:41
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