Childcare services in Hong Kong

Evangel’s Children Home tries to make children comfortable living there. (Courtesy of Evangel Children's Home)

By Florence Wong

Residential childcare services in Hong Kong are not limited to orphans only.

According to the Social Welfare Department, young people under 21 whose families cannot provide them with adequate care can also apply for residential childcare services.

Some families may opt for the services for reasons such as emotional and behavioral problems or family crises due to illness or death.

From February 1999 to February 2004, 677 children lived in foster homes. Over 40 percent came from families that were unable to provide sufficient care for them. About 12 percent of them were abandoned children.

To apply for residential services, one must first obtain a referral from the assigned social worker through the Central Referral System.

Two major types of residential childcare services provided are non-institutional care and institutional care.

Foster care service is an example of non-institutional residential services. Under this service, a child lives in a foster home where a foster family volunteers to take care of the child. They are not paid for this, but can apply for subsidies of about $1,000 a month for one child’s expenses.

Frances Fung, social worker in the Central Foster Care Unit of the Social Welfare Department, said that the unit has provided foster care services for 21 years.

She said, “Social workers first have assessments with the children. If their families are found unable to provide suitable care to the kids, social workers will refer the children to us.

“Next, we screen the cases and decide whether we should provide childcare services.

“We then match children to foster homes.”

After the matching process, social workers provide advice for foster families to ensure that the children live in harmony with them.

During that time, they also try to improve the situation of the children’s original families and help them reunite.

If children are unable to adapt to their foster homes, social workers have to identify and solve the problems. They avoid transferring a child from one foster home to another to prevent emotional instability. When children turn 18, they have to leave their foster homes. However, foster homes can volunteer to continue taking care of their charges.

Several non-government organizations, like the Hong Kong Christian Service and the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society, supervise foster projects.

Daniel Shek, a professor in the Social Work Department at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, commented on foster home services.

He said, “A foster home’s strength is that it resembles a family and can provide a natural environment for the kids.

“But foster parents are not social workers. They may not be able to handle the children’s problems.”

Another kind of residential childcare service is an institutional one in which children live in children’s homes. A children’s home consists of a group of kids living together with houseparents. They are paid to take care of the children.

Founded in 1956, Evangel Children’s Home’s original aim was to provide a home for orphans only. Now, it has expanded its services to include non-orphans. It is funded by Social Welfare Department and Community Chest of Hong Kong. Children who live in Evangel are referred by the Social Welfare Department or other non-government organizations. They are from 6 to 18 years old.

There are five houses in the Evangel, each with 64 children and two houseparents.

Every day, the foster children go to local public schools and return to the children’s home after class.

The homes provide tutors for those who have problems with their schoolwork.

Apart from help in education, Mr. Yip said that it is essential to help children adapt to life in Evangel.

“Evangel is a totally new place for the children, where they have to live separately from their biological parents, face strangers and obey rules.”

To help children face these challenges, the children’s home provides counseling.

Besides simply adapting to the children’s home, Mr. Yip said it is important to make them feel comfortable living there.

As such, birthday parties and festival celebrations are organized.

Said Mr. Yip: “Participation [in those events] enhances their sense of belonging. Through fundraising events, we hope the children know there is pressure on our budget and they should cherish the resources.”

Prof. Shek said, “Kids in children’s homes receive more resources. There are several houses in one children’s home, and children can transfer to other houses if they are unable to adapt to a certain one.

“But the environment there is unnatural. Research has shown that living in a children’s home for a long time has a negative impact on children. The children’s IQs were lower than those of kids living at home.”

Prof. Shek said that the quality of childcare services in Hong Kong “has reached global standards”.

“Care is important, especially for those with family problems. These children are prone to inferiority. They think nobody loves them.

“Social workers and houseparents have to teach them to face their emotional wounds and build trusting relationships.”

To do that, said Prof. Shek, professional help is needed.

“We now help the children to overcome their wounds. But it would be more desirable if we could have experts on different cases, such as divorce, single-parent families and so on.”

 

Life in a children’s home

‘I like it, but it can never replace home’

By Florence Wong

Boey Wong, 16, has been living in Evangel Children’s Home for 2 years. She comes from a happy family, but lives in the children’s home simply because her home is too far away from her school.

She said, “I used to live with my family in Tuen Mun. Every day, it took me over an hour to go to my school in Wong Tai Sin.

“I was always late for school, so the social workers in my school referred me to live here in Evangel, in Wong Tai Sin.”

She lives in the children’s home on weekdays and returns to her own home on weekends.

When she first arrived at Evangel, Boey felt uncomfortable.

“There are too many regulations and there is too little freedom.

“For example, I have to go back to Evangel immediately after school and can’t go out with friends.”

Now, she has gotten used to it and even treats it as her second home.

“It’s just like a normal family.

“I go to school in the morning and come back after school.

“At night, I have dinner together with my houseparents and other kids.

“Then we perform housework duties in shifts.”

She spends most of her time on schoolwork. Music fills her leisure time.

“The volunteer teachers here taught me how to play piano, and I love it so much.”

Although she likes Evangel, she complains that recreation is inadequate.

“For example, there are not enough computers. Nearly 70 children share four computers.

“Sometimes, I am only able to do my homework when I go back home,” she said.

Though she has started looking at Evangel as a home, she said it could never replace the real thing. “Houseparents can’t replace parents. I sometimes feel bad because it seems like I have no parents to take care of me.”

Comparing living at home and at Evangel, she said, “There are different benefits. I have a better environment to study and better care at home. Living at Evangel saves me time for study and teaches me to be independent.”

Missing home, the Form 5 girl said she looks forward to enrolling in a school nearer her home in Form 6. That way, she will be able to live with her parents again.

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