Latest News of Feb 2026

The Social Welfare Department rolls out the three-year "Pilot Programme on Community Living Room" – Sai Ying Pun Community Living Room Project, which is subsidised by the Community Care Fund.  For details, please click here.

The Social Welfare Department is inviting applications for 2026 Post-Secondary Student Summer Internship Programme. The closing date for application is 26 February 2026 (Thursday). 

(i) Summer Intern (Social Work)

Please click here for further details. 

Application form can be downloaded here. 

(ii) Summer Intern (Psychology)

Please click here for further details. 

Application form can be downloaded here. 

(iii) Summer Intern (Media Arts/Visual Arts related subjects)

Please click here for further details. 

Application form can be downloaded here.
 

The Social Welfare Department is now inviting non-governmental organisations to submit proposals for the operation of four new aided standalone child care centres (100 places) on -

(a)    2/F, Podium, KT Marina, 15 Shing Fung Road, Kai Tak, Kowloon City, Kowloon (Kai Tak CCC);

(b)    2/F, Wang Chi Court, 7 Wang Chiu Road, Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong, Kowloon (Wang Chiu CCC);

(c)    2/F, Joint-user Complex, 65 Wing Shun Street, Tsuen Wan, New Territories (Wing Shun CCC);

(d)    2/F (Shop 201), Po Tin Shopping Centre, Po Tin Estate, 99 Ming Kum Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories (Po Tin CCC).

Please click here for further details.

The Rehabilitation and Medical Social Services Branch now invites the bona fide non-profit making organisation granted a tax-exemption status under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) to submit proposal by using one set of the prescribed Application Form for operating a new Special Child Care Centre cum Early Education and Training Centre at Hiu Yan Estate, Kwun Tong.

For information of briefing session, details of Service Specifications, application form and related documents, please click here.

The application shall be submitted by hand at or before 5:00 p.m. on 27 March 2026 (Friday).

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has earlier invited eligible non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to submit proposals to operate a new Day Care Centre for the Elderly (DE) at G/F, North District Community Health Centre Building, 3 Wai Wo Street, Sheung Shui, New Territories. Upon the assessment of Vetting Committee (VC) on all the proposals received, the VC recommends Hong Kong Children & Youth Services to operate the DE.

Information on additional and planned places of rehabilitation services for the period of January 2026 to March 2026 has been announced. Please download the information here.

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has earlier invited eligible non-governmental organisations to submit proposals to operate four new Small Group Homes (SGHs) at 18 Shing Fung Road, Kowloon (Government Accommodation). A Vetting Committee (VC) was set up to conduct assessment of all the proposals received. Upon the recommendation of the VC, SWD has selected The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong to operate the Service.

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) announced today (January 27) that starting from February 1, 2 additional residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) located in Dongguan and Guangzhou will become Recognised Service Providers under the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong (the Scheme) to provide subsidised residential care places for participating elderly persons.

The information of the additional RCHEs is as follows:

Together with the existing 24 RCHEs, the total number of RCHEs participating in the Scheme will increase to 26, with full coverage of the 9 Mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), offering more choices to Hong Kong elderly people who wish to retire in the GBA.  

Elderly persons who are waitlisted for subsidised residential care services on the Central Waiting List and would like to join the Scheme may contact their responsible workers to file an application.  Applicants may also approach elderly centres, Integrated Family Service Centres or Medical Social Services Units to make an application.  After their care needs have been ascertained in the Standardised Care Need Assessment, they may apply for residential care services under the Scheme.

For details of the Scheme, you may click here.

In accordance with the established mechanism, based on the annual movement of the Social Security Assistance Index of Prices, the Government has submitted a paper to the Panel on Welfare Services of the Legislative Council to propose an increase of 2.2 per cent to the standard payment rates under the CSSA Scheme and the rates of allowances under the SSA Scheme (namely Old Age Allowance, Old Age Living Allowance and Disability Allowance). The Government will consult the Finance Committee (FC) of the Legislative Council on the proposed adjustment as early as possible. If approved by the FC, the adjusted rates will take retrospective effect from February 1, 2026.  

In addition, the Government has planned to adjust the maximum rent allowance under the CSSA Scheme in accordance with the relevant mechanism, with the adjustment retrospectively effective from February 1, 2026.
 

To alleviate the shortage of nurses in the welfare sector and enhance the quality of care services, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has commissioned the Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU), the Saint Francis University (SFU) and the Tung Wah College (TWC), to provide the two-year full-time Enrolled Nurse (General) Training Programme for the Welfare Sector for five consecutive years starting from the 2023-24 academic year.

The Enrolled Nurse (General) Training Programme for the Welfare Sector 2026-27 provides 427 places in total. Invitation of applications of the three training institutes starts at 9am on 12 January 2026 (Monday) and ends at 5pm on 2 March 2026 (Monday).  Information seminars on the training programme will be held by the HKMU, the SFU and the TWC, starting from January 2026. Information about the seminar, the training programme and application is available on the webpage of respective training institutes as shown below:

For enquiries, please call the enquiry numbers of the training institutes.

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has earlier invited eligible non-governmental organisations to submit proposals to operate a new District Support Centres for Persons with Disabilities in Sai Sha, Tai Po.  A Vetting Committee (VC) was set up to conduct assessment of all the proposals received.  Upon the recommendations of the VC, SWD has selected SAHK to operate the Service.

The Social Welfare Department has commissioned China Taiping Life Insurance (Hong Kong) Company Limited to implement the “Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong - Pilot Medical Subsidy Arrangement” for two years starting from 22 December 2025.  

Since the commencement date of the pilot arrangement, elderly participants of the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong can apply for the subsidy concerning their self-paid medical expenses incurred at any designated medical institutions (including clinics, hospitals, and pharmacy stores) within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area under the coverage of the National Basic Medical Insurance Policy.  The annual ceiling is RMB 10,000 per person for outpatient expenses and RMB 30,000 per person for inpatient expenses.

For details, please click here.

For details, please refer to the following links:

Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged – Regular Portion

Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged – Dedicated Portion

The list of the first batch of approved applications for the Eleventh Tranche of the Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care has been released.  For details, please click here.

The revised “Application Procedures and Assessment Criteria of Joining Fee-waiving Subsidy Scheme for New After School Care Programme Centres” and related documents have been uploaded to website.  Please click here to obtain the related documents.

The Government has injected an additional $1 billion into the Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care (I&T Fund) in 2024-25. This enhancement aims to increase subsidies for eligible elderly and rehabilitation service units to procure, rent, or trial technological products and expanding the scope of the I&T Fund to include technology products suitable for household use.  All subvented elderly or rehabilitation service units providing non-residential care services are eligible to submit applications for procuring appropriate technology products to lend to elderly persons, persons with disabilities, or their carers for use at home so as to improve the quality of life for service users and alleviate the pressure of the carers.  Subject to the availability of funding, the maximum grant amount per application is $200,000 while the application amount will not be counted towards the maximum grants allocated to the respective service units. Joint applications by different Non-governmental Organisations or service units within the same service category will be considered.  Applications are now open and will be accepted year-round.  For details, please click here.

The Government launched the “School-based After School Care Service Scheme” (the Scheme) in the 2023/24 school year to provide focused support for families in need (particularly single-parent families).  With funding from the Community Care Fund (CCF), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are responsible for operating school-based after school care service at venues provided by schools, with a view to allowing primary students in need to stay after school to receive care and learning support, while enabling parents, who used to be tied up with caring responsibilities for their children during after-school hours, to choose to work and improve their livelihood.  The Scheme has received positive feedback since its launch.  In order to collect more comprehensive data and views from stakeholders for future review of the Scheme on the way forward, the Government extended the pilot period of the Scheme for one year in  the 2024/25 school year, covering all 18 districts in Hong Kong.  As of today, there are 126 primary schools joining the Scheme, offering about 5 900 service places.  As promulgated in 2024 Policy Address, it is planned to encourage more schools to participate in the Scheme, without capping the number of places, in the 2025/26 school year.

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) is now inviting eligible NGOs (Paragraph 4 of the Service Specifications) to apply for joining the Scheme for the 2025/26 school year as Approved Service Providers (ASPs).  NGOs interested may liaise with the participating schools in accordance with the location of their service units for discussing the implementation details in accordance with the content, procedures and guidelines set out in the Service Specifications and submit the application form (Annex 1 of the Service Specifications) on or before 5 July 2025 to CCF Team of SWD (Paragraph 41 of the Service Specifications). The list of participating schools will be uploaded to SWD’s website after the briefing. 

The Education Bureau and Labour and Welfare Bureau/SWD will form an interdepartmental working group to vet and approve the application.  CCF Team of SWD will notify the participating schools and partner NGOs (ASPs) of the result on or before 6 August 2025 so as to implement the after school care service in this September. 

To allow interested NGOs and schools having better understanding on the Scheme and the above-mentioned arrangement, the SWD is going to organise an online briefing session with details as follows:

Eligible and interested NGOs may download and return the completed reply slip to the Youth Section of the SWD on or before 9 June 2025 (Monday) by email (email address: youthenq@swd.gov.hk). 

For enquiries, please contact the following responsible officers of the Youth Section:

Online Briefing Reply Slip (in Chinese)
Service Specifications (in Chinese)
Annex 1 - ASP Application Form for 2025/26 School Year (in Chinese)

Following the online briefing on the implementation of 2025/26 School Year School-based After School Care Service Scheme held by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) on 13 June 2025, documents below are provided.
PowerPoint Slides (in Chinese)
List of Service Units Willing to Participate in the 25-26 School-based After School Care Service Scheme (in Chinese)
List of Participating Schools (in Chinese)
Frequently Asked Questions (in Chinese)

• Starting from 28 July 2023, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) expands the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong. The expansion measures include to invite applications from operators of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) with experience and satisfactory track records in providing subsidised elderly residential care services in Hong Kong and are operating RCHE(s) in Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to register their RCHE(s) in GBA cities as the Recognised Service Provider (RSP) under the GDRCS Scheme.
• The SWD is receiving a new round of applications for RCHEs to join the Scheme.  Eligible Hong Kong operators planning to apply within 2026 for including their RCHEs located in the GBA, operated either on their own or under partnership with Mainland elderly service operators, in the Scheme shall submit their applications on or before April 30 this year.  Results are expected to be announced by year end.
• For the details of the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong, you may click here. 
• Joining the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong as Recognised Service Providers, please click here to download the Invitation for Proposal and annexes. (Chinese version only)
• For enquiries, you may contact the Residential Care Services Section of Elderly Branch.

• Starting from 28 July 2023, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) expands the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong. The expansion measures include to cover elderly persons waitlisting under the Central Waiting List for subsidised nursing home places.
• Currently, nursing home places are provided at The Hong Kong Jockey Club Shenzhen Society for Rehabilitation Yee Hong Heights and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Helping Hand Zhaoqing Home for the Elderly only.

Eligibility Criteria
The elderly persons who have been assessed and matched for residential care services under the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services and are waitlisted for subsidised care and attention places or nursing home places on the Central Waiting List (CWL) for Subsidised Long Term Care (LTC) Services.

How to Apply

1. Elderly persons who are waitlisted for subsidised residential care services in the CWL and would like to apply for the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong may contact their responsible workers to file an application for GDRCS Scheme.
2. New applicants of LTC services may approach Medical Social Services Units, Integrated Family Service Centres or elderly centres to make an application and request for referral for subsidised LTC services.  Through initial screening and assessment as appropriate, they may apply for LTC service, including GDRCS Scheme, in accordance with their assessment results after their care needs have been ascertained in the Standardised Care Needs Assessment.

• For the details of the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong, you may click here.
• For enquiries, you may contact the Residential Care Services Section of Elderly Branch at 2961 7234.

The Social Welfare Department is now inviting eligible subvented homes, contract homes, self-financing homes providing non-subsidised care and attention places or nursing home places; and private homes participating in Enhanced Bought Place Scheme; and eligible private residential care homes for the elderly to participate in the ‘Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly’ (RCSV) as Recognised Service Providers (RSPs) to provide residential care services to eligible elderly persons.  For details of the RCSV Scheme, please click here. 

The application must meet the requirements and the prescribed format as stipulated in the document of ‘Invitation for Applications - Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly (Recognised Service Providers)’ and its Annexes (SWD/EB/RCSV/IOP/11).  

"Invitation for Application" can be downloaded here.

"Application Form" can be downloaded here.

An Applicant must SUBMIT one (1) hard copy of its Application Form together with the supporting documents all enclosed in a sealed envelope marked “CONFIDENTIAL - Application for Joining the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly as the Recognised Service Provider” The completed application forms should be submitted by post (The postmark date on the envelop will be regarded as the date of submission of application) or by hand to the following address on or before 5:00 p.m. on 30 April 2026 (Thursday):

Elderly Branch
Residential Care Service Voucher Office
Social Welfare Department
[Attention: Senior Social Work Officer (Residential Care Service Voucher)]
Room 2701-07, 27/F
Two Chinachem Exchange Square
338 King’s Road, North Point, Hong Kong

Late submission will not be accepted.  In case the black rainstorm signal is issued or tropical cyclone warning signal No. 8 or above is hoisted or extreme condition is announced by the Government between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm on 30 April 2026 (the closing date of the submission of applications), the closing time for submitting applications will be extended to 5:00 pm on the first ensuing working day without further announcement.

Briefing Session for Invitation for Applications for Joining the RCSV Scheme as RSP

Each residential home for the elderly would have a maximum of two quotas.  Applicants who are interested in attending the briefing session should make online enrolment via the following link  or before 5 March 2026 (Thu).

For further enquiries, please contact the following persons of the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly office:

For details of the SPED and application eligibility, please click here.