Our Foster Care Service provides "out of home" family care for children and young persons who cannot be adequately cared for by their families due to various family problems or crises.
The aim of foster care is to provide a substitute family life experience for the children in need so that they can enjoy a healthy home and community experience until they reunite with their families, are adopted or reach 18 years of age and can begin the transition to independent living.
Children under foster care service will stay with the foster family for an average of a few months to two years.
What Is Emergency Foster Care?
- To provide family care to children who need to leave home temporarily in an emergency situation.
- These situations include families encountering emergency or sudden crises and are without support.
- Placements are usually less than six weeks.
Mother's Choice Foster Care Service – Special Mission
Our Foster Care Service started in 1993.
We co-work with the Social Welfare Department and actively recruit English-speaking or bilingual foster families for children with special needs referred for overseas adoption so that they can begin learning English and be familiarized with the kind of home environment where they will grow up. In this way, the transition will be easier and more natural.
With an increasing number of children with special needs waiting for adoption in the past few years, we hope that we can find more families to help these children in the coming year.
What is a Foster Family?
A foster family is a family approved by the Central Foster Care Unit (CFCU) of the Social Welfare Department to provide temporary physical care, nurture and emotional support to children placed with them for planned, goal-directed services which will support the permanency plan of these children.
- Foster families are important partners in the foster care team
- Foster parents share challenges, frustration and satisfaction in relation to helping and caring for children in need
- Foster parents are part of the team and must work closely with all parties involved in the child's life, based on mutual understanding and co-operation with each other
Foster parents may choose to leave the service at any time or they may be asked to leave the service if they no longer meet the eligibility criteria.
Who Makes the Best Foster Parents?
- Fondness for children and experience and ability in child care.
- Healthy marriage and stable family relationships.
- Good health: physical and emotional.
- Tidy, clean and safe living condition with sufficient living space.
- One of the parents can be a full-time primary carer.
- Age 25 or above.
- Minimum primary education standard.
- Willingness to accept social worker’s investigation and supervision, and co-operate with foster child’s biological family.
Foster Care Allowance is granted for the care of foster children. The Director of Inland Revenue Department has agreed that Foster Care Allowance, not being income, need not be declared for the purpose of Hong Kong salaries tax.
- Monthly maintenance grant (HK$2,901.00) to cover daily expenses for food, clothing, toys, ordinary medical expenses at public clinic and activities etc., of the foster child.
- Monthly incentive payment (HK$1,449.00) for the foster parents.
- An initial setting-up grant (HK$1,431.00) for the purchase of necessities for the foster child upon admission. (It cannot be used for the purchase of bed, closet, etc.)
