Press Releases
Government's response to financial assistance for children in need
In response to media enquiries on financial assistance for children in need, a
Government spokesman said today (November 21) that the principle of according
priority treatment to the needs of our children has been well embedded in social
security policies through the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA)
Scheme which provides comprehensive financial assistance to families in need.
Under the CSSA Scheme, children are provided with higher standard rates than
other able-bodied recipients. They are also provided with a range of special
grants pertaining to their education and school-related needs.
The monthly standard rates for able-bodied children range from $1,275 to $1,920,
those for disabled children range from $2,230 to $4,150, higher than those for
adults.
School children are entitled to a full range of special grants to meet their
educational expenses. These grants cover :
* school fees (actual fees, or a maximum of full-day kindergarten fee of $2,298
per month or half-day kindergarten fee of $1,315 per month);
* meal allowance of $195 per month for full-time students who have to take lunch
away from home;
* actual expenses of fares to and from school and examination fees; and
* a flat-rate grant for each school year, which ranges from $1,245 to $3,810 for
school-related expenses of different education level such as books, stationery,
school uniforms, and other miscellaneous expenses.
At present, the estimated monthly CSSA payments for 3-person and 4-person
households without income are $7,733 and $9,094 respectively.
Out of 539 000 who are community assistance under the CSSA, 118 000 are children
aged below 15.
To provide special care and protection for children, Hong Kong residents under
18 years of age are not required to satisfy any prior residence requirements to
be eligible for CSSA.
In addition to cash assistance, CSSA recipients are given free medical services
in all public clinics/hospitals.
"In helping the children in need, the society should adopt a multi-dimension and
multi-discipline approach," the spokesman said.
"The Administration has all along been committed to developing a comprehensive
network of services, many of them highly subsidized, to take care of our
children��s developmental needs. For instance, we have developed a continuum of
preventive, supportive and remedial welfare services for families in order to
provide targeted assistance to help families in need. For example, working
parents in need of child care services for young children, or after school care
service for their school-age children can receive highly subsidized child care
and after school care services from Social Welfare Department or
non-governmental Organizations.
"Our healthcare system provides immunization for children from birth to protect
them from infectious diseases and provides them with health education in school
so that they can develop healthily. It is our policy that no children should be
deprived of medical services because of lack of means.
"The Education and Manpower Bureau has also launched the school-based after
school learning and support programme in 2005-06 with an amount of $75 million
for junior primary to senior secondary students in need to improve their
learning effectiveness, broaden their learning experiences outside the
classroom, and raise their understanding of the community and sense of
belonging.
The Commission on Poverty (CoP) and relevant bureaux are reviewing the
prevailing policies in tackling inter-generational poverty, so as to ensure that
children and youth can have opportunities for healthy and all-rounded
development, the spokesman said.
Ends/Monday, November 21, 2005
Issued at HKT 21:03
NNNN