The total number of District Services & Community Care Teams will be increased from 452 to 455 when the teams enter into second-term services, the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau announced today.

The first-term service agreements for the District Services & Community Care Teams will conclude between late September and mid-October.

Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak said the Government is confident that all 452 care teams will meet or even surpass the key performance indicators by the end of the first-term service period.

The second-term services will be optimised in the three key directions of “seamless continuity, tailored to district needs, and deeper and broader services”, she added.

Following an assessment of the service coverage and demographic changes in each sub-district, the bureau will make appropriate refinements to the service boundaries.

Specifically, Sha Ta (North District) will be split into two sub-districts, while Sheung Shui Rural (North District) and Hang Hau West (Sai Kung District) will each add a new team. The boundaries of six sub-district clusters will also be fine-tuned.

These adjustments will bring the total number of care teams from 452 to 455.

District offices will first invite existing operating organisations to submit proposed project plans for the second term. For the three new sub-districts as well as individual teams unable to continue their services, district offices will invite the previously shortlisted organisations to submit proposals.

All proposed project plans and related forms must reach the respective district offices by August 15.

By the end of the second quarter this year, the care teams visited about 530,000 elderly or other needy households, provided about 76,000 times of basic home or other support services, and organised about 38,000 district-level activities.