The Social Welfare Department held a commendation ceremony for the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project today to honour about 200 home-based child carers (HCCs) for their caring and neighbourhood spirit.

Addressing the ceremony, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun said since its launch in 2008, the project has benefitted about 150,000 children from needy families.

With a view to strengthening the support for working families in childbearing and incentivising more families to join the labour market, the Chief Executive announced in the 2023 Policy Address that the incentive payment for HCCs will be substantially increased in April.

The number of service places under the project will be increased and enhanced training for HCCs will also be in place in the fourth quarter.

Mr Sun encouraged participating HCCs to enrol in the training to enhance their child care skills, knowledge and confidence through revision and experience sharing.

He thanked the participating HCCs for the tireless contributions they have made for the needy children in addition to taking care of their own families.

Meanwhile, he expressed his gratitude to the 15 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for their wholehearted support for both the project and the HCCs.

Mr Sun called on the participating carers to actively introduce the project to their families and friends and motivate more people to become HCCs to expand the caring network in the community.

In addition to stating that it subsidises NGOs to operate the project in 18 districts, the department pointed out that there are now around 1,700 HCCs in the city.

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