Service Target

Small Group Homes, providing a 24-hour family-like residential care, serves children and young people from 4 to 18 years old who cannot receive adequate care from their original families. Emergency/Short-term Care in Small Group Home (ESGH) is also provided for children with urgent need.

Service Objectives

• To protect and promote children's health and welfare
• To take care of children's holistic development
• To enhance children's potential development, sense of responsibility, self-respect and self-care abilities

Service Capacity

194 (including 2 Emergency / Short-term SGH places)

Service Content

• 24 small group homes in total, taking care of eight children each
• Provision of daily care and supervision to the children within a home-like environment
• Provision of counseling service and welfare plan
• Provision of self-care training, tutorial service, social skills training, etc.

Service Facilities and Characteristics

Based on individual child’s needs, every home provides air-conditioning, computers, play corner and private area allowing a happy and comfortable living environment for children to develop and grow up healthily.

The Home’s Child Discipline Belief

• Children need a healthy and stable environment
• Understand children’s needs with empathy
• Accept the limitations of children
• Respect the uniqueness of children
• Let children learn from mistakes

Admission & Discharge

• All applications are referred to St. Christopher’s Home via the Social Welfare Department. For ESGH, please contact St. Christopher’s Home directly.
• Children discharged from the service should go through the joint discussion by the Referring Officer, the Home's social worker and the child's parents / guardians.
• Nevertheless, if a child’s behavior creates immediate danger to other inmates and / or carers, St. Christopher’s Home has the right to discharge the child from the service immediately.

Charges

Accommodations and food are free of charge. But, parents/guardians are responsible for the child's personal expenses such as school related expenses and personal allowances.

Professional Staff Support Services

Service Target
Children and youth under the care of our Small Group Homes with special needs such as learning difficulties, attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, autism and speech impairment, developmental delay, etc. as well as their parents or carers.

Service Objectives
- To provide special designed group activities or social and recreational activities to address the special needs of the service users
- To provide professional advice, consultation and training to staff regarding management of the service users
- To provide clinical assessments/consultations/ treatments to facilitate the cognitive, emotional and behavioral development of the service users on one-off/short-term basis or during the period of awaiting long-term clinical psychological service

Service Content
- clinical/intellectual assessments
- clinical consultations/treatments
- education for the parents/carers of the service users
- staff training
- group activities, social and recreational activities in addressing the special needs of the service users and/or their parents/ carers

Charges
- Casework Service: Free
- Group/Program: As designated for individual group/program

Service Application and Withdrawal
- Service users may make application through social workers of our Small Group Homes.
- Service users who wish to withdraw from the service may make direct request to the responsible social worker/clinical psychologist for suitable arrangement.