Po Leung Kuk thanks the Independent Review Committee and would actively follow-up on its recommendations with a view to enhancing Residential Child Care Service

(17 December 2022) Po Leung Kuk initiated the establishment of a seven-member Independent Review Committee(IRC) in October this year, with Ms Melissa Kaye Pang as Chairman and members drawn from different professional sectors, to conduct a review of the overall standard of care, governance, policies, measures, etc., of the Kuk’s Residential Child Care Service. Deloitte Advisory (Hong Kong) Limited was also commissioned to carry out an internal control assessment. The IRC has now completed the First Phase Report and proposes a series of recommendations which aim to address concerns identified in five areas. Po Leung Kuk is grateful for and accepts the invaluable recommendations proposed by the IRC and will follow up on the recommendations to strengthen governance and continuously enhance the Residential Child Care Service.

Chairman of Po Leung Kuk, Dr Daniel C Y Chan, MH, sincerely thanks the IRC for their efforts and dedication. Dr Chan said, “Under the leadership of Chairperson Ms Melissa Kaye Pang, the IRC conducted in-depth research and provided professional advice. Adhering to the core value of “Protecting the Young and the Innocent”, Po Leung Kuk will proactively follow-up on the recommendations and continue to enhance our Residential Child Care Service. We notice that some recommendations in the Report are related to government policies. Po Leung Kuk will submit the Report to the Labour and Welfare Bureau and Social Welfare Department for their consideration.”

The IRC identified five areas for improvements and proposed six recommendations, including improving manning ratio, stepping up staff training, responsive measures to handle increasing number of overaged and SEN children at the Kuk. In addition, IRC also recommends that there should be clear definition of child abuse. (details can be found in the Summary of the First Phase Report of the IRC)

In parallel to fully supporting the review process of the IRC, Po Leung Kuk has taken a number of improvement measures to strengthen the frontline services and staff training. These include enhancing recruitment incentives, increasing the manpower ratio of frontline Child Care Workers and supervisors, clerical staff and SEN Child Care Workers, etc., so as to conduct more SEN trainings and provide better frontline supervision and administrative support. Additionally, existing service monitoring measures are also further formalised.

In terms of staff training, Po Leung Kuk has drawn up a series of induction and in-service training programmes on practical skills for frontline staff of the Residential Child Care Service and assign dedicated supervisors to coordinate and review the effectiveness of the programmes.  The Kuk also hosted a large-scale child protection seminar earlier, featuring guests from various government departments and organisations including the Department of Justice, Hong Kong Police Force, Hospital Authority and Social Welfare Department to provide briefing on the relevant laws on child abuse in Hong Kong, handling and prosecution of child abuse cases, sharing of related case studies and ways to help alleviate the stress of child care workers.

Po Leung Kuk also established the Po Leung Kuk Residential Child Care Service Governing Committee earlier with participation of independent professional members. The Kuk believes this will help better maintain quality assurance of the Residential Child Care Service.

In the future, the Kuk will continue to implement various improvement and enhancement measures on staffing establishment, employee training, environment and facilities, management and monitoring of services and regularly review their effectiveness. Po Leung Kuk is committed to provide better services in keeping up with the times. The Kuk hopes for the continuous support and trust of the community, to build a caring culture for children and uphold the Kuk’s mission in protecting the young and the innocent.

The First Phase Report Executive Summary can be found on Po Leung Kuk’s website:www.poleungkuk.org.hk. Please contact the Po Leung Kuk Babies Section via [email protected] for enquiries or appointment to get or review the full version of the Report (English version).

About Po Leung Kuk

Founded in 1878, Po Leung Kuk, as one of the largest charity organisations in Hong Kong, has been serving Hong Kong for 144 years with its objective of “Protecting the Young and the Innocent”(保赤安良). Currently, the Kuk has more than 300 units strategically located in Hong Kong and provides services in education, social welfare, recreation, culture and integrated health care. We have about 45,000 students in our schools and attend to more than 800,000 visits for services a year. For more information about Po Leung Kuk, please go to www.poleungkuk.org.hk.

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Miss Queenie Ho
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Corporate Communications and Public Relations Department
Po Leung Kuk
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Email address：[email protected]

Miss Mavis Yeung
Senior Corporate Communications Executive
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Department
Po Leung Kuk
Tel︰2277 8238
Email address：[email protected]