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| April 2000 Homes for needy kids Residential care, foster care and adoption aim at helping children in need to lead a better life By Crystal Tang Articles from the same section:
It is said that a complete family life is conducive to a happy childhood. But for children from a broken family, alternative lifestyles can let them turn a new lease on life. Residential child care service, which provides alternative residential care for children under 21, aims at helping them adapt to the transitional period until they find new homes. The development of the service stems from the belief that a family setting is better than an institutional one, particularly for children below their teens. By the end of July 1999, regarding residential child care service, there have been 3,270 places offered by 139 service units. Po Leung Kuk is one of the organizations providing residential child care services. According to Mrs. Bridget Yu, assistant superintendent of the Residential Service of Po Leung Kuk, parents of the children living there are fatally ill, mentally handicapped or in prison. As their parents fail to give them adequate care, they live in Po Leung Kuk temporarily. There are 370 children in Po Leung Kuk now. Po Leung Kuk does not accept private applications for residential service. All the children are arranged under the central residential child care service system of the Social Welfare Department. Thus, the Social Welfare Department would monitor the quality of the service, while Po Leung Kuk would review the cases periodically. According to Mr. Alex Wong, representative of the Information and Public Relations Unit of the Social Welfare Department, there are also regular service performance assessments. “We visit the service units subsidized by the government frequently so as to guarantee the quality and standards of their services.” A social worker follows every child’s case. Besides, Po Leung Kuk reviews every case at least once half a year. Said Mrs. Yu from Po Leung Kuk: “For example, some parents argue so frequently and severely that they may fail to give adequate care for their children. “With our social workers’ help, their problems may be solved so that children can go back to their homes.” In addition to the residential care service, the Social Welfare Department arranges foster care service for children under 18. Foster parents receive an allowance for maintaining the foster children in their families. They also receive a monthly incentive payment and a one-off setting-up grant in the first month. Said Mr. Wong from the Social Welfare Department: “We consider every case very carefully in order to choose a best service for the children. “For some younger kids, foster care is more suitable for them. “As one of the family members, they are closer to the foster families. “While for some elder children, they may be opposed to living with foster families under such a close atmosphere. “Thus, it is arranged for them to live in residential centres.” Furthermore, the Adoption Unit of the Social Welfare Department strives to find suitable and permanent homes for the abandoned children. Services are also available for children whose parents are dead, and illegitimate children whose parents are unable to raise them. As the adoptive parents are required to have a sense of responsibility, both the Social Welfare Department and the court would assess and investigate every applicant carefully. Mr. Wong from the Social Welfare Department said that it is actually quite common for local families to adopt children. Last year, the Department received 127 applications from local families, as well as 17 and 67 from overseas families and their own relatives, respectively. |
Having a happy childhood is important for
every child. (Varsity file photo) |
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