Small Group Home Service and Emergency / Short Term Care in Small Group Home

Service Mission

Ordinary Small Group Home

Provides family-like care and nurture to children whose families are having difficulties taking care of them until the children reunite with their families, join an adoptive family or live independently.

Emergency / Short Term Care Service in Small Group Home (ESCSGH)

Provides emergency / short-term family-like care to children whose families are having emergency or crisis situation until they reunite with their families or secure a long term placement.

Service Objectives

1. Support those needy families to care and nurture their children, facilitate growth and development of children in caring and secure environment.
2. Provide a stable family-like environment and promote positive family culture so as to facilitate children’s healthy growth.
3. Enable the children to enhance their self-esteem and confidence, strengthen their problem solving abilities and develop their potentials.
4. Facilitate the children to build up positive family relationship so as to foster family cohesion.
5. Support the children’s families to face and resolve their difficulties as well as to enhance their family functioning, so as to facilitate early home restoration or long-term alternative care.

Services Content

1. Provide famly-like daily care and study guidance
2. Render training on life skills and self-care skills
3. Nurture positive values, healthy life attitudes and proper interpersonal relationship
4. Provide academic guidance
5. Render emotional and behavioural counselling
6. Arrange various social, recreational and developmental activities
7. Connect children with their families, enhance parent-child relationship
8. The clinical psychologist and social workers of the Professional Support Service provide assessments and various kinds of intervention to children with special needs

Service Targets

Small group home service

Children aged 4 to 18, full-time students, in need of proper care due to various kinds of family difficulties and crises (for example : child abuse or neglect, family breakdown, parents with illness and etc..)

• Ordinary Small Group Home: 8 children aged between 4 and 18
• Integrated Small Group Home: 7 children aged between 4 and 18 and 1 mildly mentally handicapped child aged between 6 and 18

Emergency / Short Term Care in Small Group Home (ESCHSGH) 

Children aged 4 to 18, full-time students, in need of urgent residential care due to various kinds of family difficulties and crises (for example : child abuse or neglect, family breakdown, parents with illness and etc..). But ordinary small group home accepts boys aged 12 or below.

Applications have to be assessed and referred by social workers of social service units to our Small Group Home Service by phone. Under the ESCSGH, a child's period of stay is from 2 weeks to 3 months. Under special circumstances, social worker can apply for an extension of stay for a maximum period of 3 months.

For those applying for Small Group Home Service or Emergency / Short term Care Small Group Home Service, please contact the integrated family service centers, medical social service units or other social service units of your district of residence for assessment and referrals.

Service Application

Small Group Home Service

• Ordinary Small Group Home: Service can be applied through social workers from social service units to the Central Referral System for Residential Child Care Services (CRSRC) of the Social Welfare Department
• Integrated Small Group Home: Service can be applied through social workers from social service units to the Central Referral System for Rehabilitation Services (CRSRehab) of the Social Welfare Department
• Referral social workers need to fill in the form "Supplementary Information for Referral for Placement in Residential Child Care Services" when arranging children to RCCS.

Emergency / Short Term Care in Small Group Home (ESCSGH)

• Needy families can apply the service through social workers of social service units by contacting us by phone.
• Referring social worker can also visit the below link to understand the provision of emergency placement for children in Hong Kong: https://sites.google.com/site/vperccs/home/vacancy-v0-1
• Under the ESCSGH, a child's period of stay is from 2 weeks to 3 months. Under special circumstances, social worker can apply for an extension of stay for a maximum period of 3 months.

Fee

Accommodation and meals are provided. Parents/guardians need to shoulder children’s personal expenses, for instance, daily utilities, educational expenses, transportation fee, petty cash, medical expenses and etc..

Service Termination

With respect to the will of children, guardian may request to withdraw from the service on the behalf of children. Request may be made to social worker of Small Group Home and to referring social worker.

We may ask a child to leave the service under the following circumstances:

• Child no longer fulfills the criteria of receiving our service.
• The actions of a child or his / her family members caused dangers to other service users or service providers of themselves.
• Our service no longer meets his /her needs.

Service Unit

• Ka Fuk Small Group Home I (boys small group home), II, III
• Tin Tsz Small Group Home I, II, III
• Tin Shui Small Group Home I, II, III
• Shek Lei Small Group Home I, II, III (all are integrated small group homes)
• So Uk Small Group Home I (girls small group home), II (boys small group home), III, IV
   

Notes for Referring Workers for Emergency / Short-term Care Service in Small Group Home

• The child should be a Hong Kong resident.
• The child should be suitable for group living and has given his/her consent to live in Small Group Home.
• Referring workers should submit a welfare plan with a specific period of stay and a concrete action plan before the child is admitted into ESCSGH.
• The child should be admitted in ESCSGH within 7 working days upon our social worker's referral confirmation with referring worker.
• Referring worker should confirm the admission date, time and details with our social worker before admission. He / she should be escort the child to the Small Group Home to handle the admission procedure.
• ESCSGH is a territory wide service, children and their families from any district may apply for the service. However, our Small Group Homes are located in Tin Shui Wai, Fanling, Kwai Chung and Shamshuipo. To avoid unnecessary disruptions to the schooling of the children, application to Small Group Homes near children’s schools is recommended.

Service Hours

Monday to Friday

9:00am - 1:00pm; 2:00pm - 5:30pm