Why Day Foster Care Service ?
When children cannot be adequately cared for by their families due primarily to various family problems or crisis such as divorce, hospitalization or prolonged working hours, they may need foster care service through which they are placed in approved foster families and able to continue to receive family care.
How can Day Foster Care Service help ?
We can help children in the following ways :
- To provide substitute care for children in a stable and safe family living environment for a period of time ;
- To protect and promote the health and welfare of children and nurture their overall growth and development, including their physical, social, emotional and intellectual needs, and to encourage the development of potential, responsibility, self-esteem and self care of the children in care.
Who is eligible for this service ?
Children under 10 years of age who cannot be adequately taken care of by their family during day time.
What does the service include ?
The service provided includes :
- Arranging children to be taken care of by foster families ;
- Providing counselling and arranging other needed services and appropriate social / recreational services according to the children's need.
How can I use this service ?
People in need of day foster care service can raise their application through a referring social worker. After receiving the application, our social worker will take the following steps to provide the services :
- Contact the children and their families to explore their needs ;
- Match children with suitable foster families according to their needs.
- Arrange children and their families / guardians to meet with the foster families.
- Arrange the children, their families and the foster families to meet together, to determine the foster care contract and to arrange the children to be placed in the foster home.
- Regularly visit and contact the foster families to explore the children's situation, arrange suitable services and support, and supervise the foster families to provide proper care and supervision to the children.
- Arrange regular case review meeting for the children, their families, the foster families and other professionals concerned with the welfare of the children and their families to evaluate the implementation of the foster care contracts, to determine if the children can return to their families or if they need other long term care arrangement.
Must I reside at the same district where your service unit is located before I can apply for this service ?
Day Foster care service is a territory wide service, children and their families living in any district over Hong Kong can apply for the service.
How to apply ?
- Application can be raised through the social workers (the referring worker) from the family services, integrated family services, medical social work service, school social work service, etc. under the Social Welfare Department or the Non-Government Organizations.
- Referring worker should send the application to the Central Foster Care Unit of the Social Welfare Department for initial screening. Suitable referrals will be sent to us afterwards.
- Upon receiving the application, our social worker will contact the referring worker and meet the children and their families. Our social worker will (1) explore the clients' situation and needs, (2) help them to understand the objectives and nature of day foster care service, as well as how the services are to be arranged for them, and (3) answer their queries.
- The application will be accepted if our social worker, the referring worker, the children and their families agree that day foster care service is the most suitable service for the children.
If I do not need the service anymore, how can I leave ?
Children's parents or guardians can, on behalf of their children, request to leave the service voluntarily by informing our social worker and the referring worker of their decision. Nonetheless, the children's views should be taken into consideration.
You can contact us through the following :
- Address :
- Rooms 103 & 104, 1st Floor,
Princess Alexandra Community Centre,
60, Tai Ho Road,
Tsuen Wan, N.T.
Hong Kong SAR, China - Telephone number :
- +852 2492 6088
- Fax number :
- +852 2411 6400
- E-mail address :
- fcs@hkcs.org
- Our opening hours :
- Monday to Friday : 8:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. , 2:00 p.m. - 5:33 p.m.
- Saturday : 8:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (For Emergency Foster Care Service only)