Families commended for selfless devotion to foster care service (with photos)
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Addressing the ceremony, Ms Yip praised foster families for their contributions to society. She said that the sense of having a home and living in a warm and loving home is crucial for everyone, and with the participation of foster families, the foster care service fills the gap by offering a warm home for children whose parents are temporarily unable to take care of them, enabling them to overcome adversities and grow up healthily in a loving and caring environment.
She said she hoped to see more families joining the foster care service to provide a stable home for more children in need, which will in turn help create a more harmonious and caring society.
Ms Yip also thanked social workers from the 11 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) providing foster care services for their efforts in supporting foster families to make possible the steady development of the foster care service.
At today's ceremony, co-organised by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and the 11 NGOs, various long-service awards were presented to foster families which have provided foster care services for five to more than 25 years. Special awards were also given to those taking care of children with special needs.
Of the award-winning foster families, 48 of them have been serving for more than 15 years while 14 of them have served for over 20 years. One of the families has even seen members of two generations become foster parents, upholding the virtues of sharing and love.
Established in 1982, the 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 different reasons, so that the children can continue to enjoy family life until they can be reunited with their families or when other long-term welfare plans are arranged for them.
As at the end of March this year, there were 899 registered foster families and 923 children receiving foster care services.
There are currently 1 070 foster care places in total. To enable more needy children to receive residential care services in a family setting, the SWD plans to provide 240 additional foster care places in phases from 2017-18 and increase the level of various foster care allowances. It has also launched recently a new set of TV and radio Announcements in the Public Interest with a corresponding poster, and published a book composed of stories shared by 11 foster families to step up promotion of the foster care service through various channels. In addition, the Central Foster Care Unit will continue to work closely with the 11 NGOs in publicising the service and recruiting foster families.
Ends/Sunday, May 7, 2017
Issued at HKT 12:32
Issued at HKT 12:32
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