Introduction

• The objective of On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services (OPRS) is to deliver on-site rehabilitation services for children with different levels of special needs who are attending Kindergartens (KGs)/ Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres (KG-cum-CCCs).


• The Government has regularised the OPRS since October 2018 with the number of service places increased from 3 000 to over 10 000 in 2022/23 school year.


• The Tier 1 Support Services providing early intervention and support services for children with early signs of special needs has been regularised since September 2023 and integrated with OPRS to offer comprehensive and timely assistance to pre school children with different levels of special needs through inter-disciplinary service teams under a school-based and integrated approach.


• The OPRS inter-disciplinary service teams (service teams) (comprising occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, clinical/educational psychologists, social workers and special child care workers) operated by the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide on-site rehabilitation training and support services through a school-based and integrated approach for children under the age of six attending the participating KGs/KG-cum-CCCs who are assessed to have mild disabilities or suspected of having special needs.


• The service teams also render professional support services to teachers/child care workers and parents/carers, including consultation, demonstration, talk, workshop and seminar, etc.

Target Service User

• Children under the age of six attending the participating KGs/ KG-cum-CCCs who have been assessed by paediatricians, clinical/ educational psychologists or other qualified professionals as recognised by Social Welfare Department to have mild disabilities.


• Children suspected of having special needs, (i.e. children awaiting assessment by Child Assessment Centres of Department of Health (CACs) or assessed by CACs to have borderline developmental problem) or assessed by the service team with reference to the “Child Observation Checklist (i.e. Tier 1 Children).


• Teachers, child care workers and parents/ carers of the children mentioned above.

Application and Service Provision

• For children with mild disabilities in need of OPRS assessed by qualified professionals, referrals should be made by social workers of designated service units to Central Referral System for Rehabilitation Services –Subsystem for Disabled Pre-schoolers (CRSRehab-PS) . The responsible service teams will approach the parents/carers of the applicants (not including those applying for transitional services or receiving other subvented pre-school rehabilitation services) for arrangement of OPRS once the applications are registered in CRSRehab-PS and referred to them.
  
  
• Referral to CRSRehab-PS is not required for Tier 1 Support Services. Parents/carers of Tier 1 children above can approach teachers, social workers in pre-primary institutions or service teams of participating KGs/ KG-cum-CCCs for enquiry and application . The responsible service teams will approach the parents/carers of the applicants for arrangement of Tier 1 Support Services once the eligibility of the applicants are verified.

Fees and Charges

Free.

List of Service Operators

The addresses and telephone numbers of the service operators with contact details can be downloaded here:
Acrobat 文件 MS Excel 文件

List of Kindergartens/Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres Participating in OPRS

List of Kindergartens/Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres participating in OPRS (territory-wide) can be downloaded here：
Acrobat document MS Excel document GeoInfo Map


List of Kindergartens/Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres participating in OPRS (order by Districts of KGs/KG-cum-CCCs) can be downloaded here:

Hong Kong Region
Central & Western： Hong Kong East： Islands： Southern： Wan Chai：


Kowloon Region
Kowloon City： Kwun Tong： Sai Kung： Sham Shui Po： Wong Tai Sin：
Yau Tsim Mong：


New Territories East Region
North： Sha Tin： Tai Po：


New Territories West Region
Kwai Tsing： Tsuen Wan： Tuen Mun： Yuen Long：

Evaluative Study under the Pilot Scheme

SWD commissioned a consultancy team headed by the City University of Hong Kong to conduct an evaluative study on the pilot scheme, which was completed in November 2018. The Government has made reference to the report submitted by the consultancy team and optimised the service modes and standards of the On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services upon regularisation of service.

Membership of the Consulting Team:
Co-Chief Principal Investigators	Dr. Anna HUI Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Dr. Angela SIU Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Co-Principal Investigators	Dr. Elaine AU Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Dr. Hui Fang CHEN Assistant Professor, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Dr. Andy S.K. CHENG Associate Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Dr. Wu Ying HSIEH Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong (till Aug 2018) Associate Professor, School of Education University of Northern Iowa (starting from Sept 2018) Dr. LEUNG Man Tak Associate Professor, Department of Chinese & Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Dr. Sam YE Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong
Team Manager	Mr. YIM Kin Hang Senior Research Assistant, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong
Research Assistants	Miss CHENG Man Sze Research Assistant, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Miss LI Si Yeung Research Assistant, Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Mr. HO Cheuk Hon Research Assistant, Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Miss CHAN Nim Chi Research Assistant, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Mr. LAI Wei Chun Research Assistant, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Mr. LAM Hon Sang Research Assistant, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Miss SUK Sin Ting Research Assistant, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong

The Consulting Team had invited stakeholders including participating children, parents/carers, teachers, principals, operating NGOs, etc. to take part in the research and adopted questionnaire, interview, focus group, longitudinal tracking study, case studies, engagement/consultation session, etc. as research methods.

Research plan included five major sections:
1. Assessment of service delivery modes
2. Child developmental outcomes
3. Service strengths perceived by parents/carers, teachers, principals and NGOs
4. Formulation of regularisation as a standard policy with strengths-based focus for NGOs
5. Connectedness to existing and forthcoming policies in local context with reference to overseas trend

The Final Report can be downloaded here:

• Final Report

Cover
Final Report-OPRS Consultancy Study 2018

• Appendices

Appendix A Questionnaire to parents (Chinese version only)
Appendix B Questionnaire to school personnel (Chinese version only)
Appendix C Questionnaire to NGO
Appendix D Furniture and Equipment in KGs proposed by NGO Operators
Appendix E Duties of Service Coordinator
Appendix F Suggested Duties and Needs for the OPRS Inter-disciplinary Service Team
Appendix G Literature Review

• References

A Longitudinal Study on the Performance and Adjustment of Children Discharged from On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services (OPRS) to Primary One

SWD commissioned a consultancy team headed by the City University of Hong Kong to conduct a Longitudinal study on the Performance and Adjustment of Children Discharged from Onsite Pre-school Rehabilitation Services (OPRS) to Primary One, which was completed in March 2022.

The Consulting Team had invited stakeholders including children, parents/carers, teachers, operating non-governmental organisations, etc. to take part in the research and adopted questionnaire, interview, longitudinal study, case studies, etc. as research methods.

Research plan included three major objectives: (a) to evaluate whether improvements of children can be sustained upon discharge from OPRS to primary education and identify key factors which sustain such improvements; (b) to identify effective transition support services and other support services which facilitate smooth transition; and (c) to recommend appropriate service modes and support measures for children with special needs for progressing from kindergarten to primary education.

Final Report

Appendices (Only Chinese version is available)

(Only Chinese version is available)

Services Development Milestones

Links

Governmental Organisation

• Education Bureau
• Health Bureau
• Labour and Welfare Bureau
• Department of Health
• Social Welfare Department

Service Operators (Non-governmental Organisation)

• Boys' & Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong, The
• Caritas - Hong Kong
• Heep Hong Society
• Hong Chi Association
• Hong Kong Children and Youth Services
• Hong Kong Christian Service
• Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service
• Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Ltd.
• Hong Kong Society for the Deaf (The)
• Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children
• Hong Kong Young Women's Christian Association
• Kwun Tong Methodist Social Service
• Po Leung Kuk
• SAHK
• Salvation Army, The
• St. James’ Settlement
• Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong Social Service (The)
• Tung Wah Group of Hospitals
• Watchdog Limited
• Yan Chai Hospital
• Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Q1：What is the difference between the target group of Tier 1 and Tier 2 of OPRS？
• A1：Target group of Tier 1-
• Children under the age of 6 studying in KGs/ KG-cum-CCCs participating in the OPRS who are:
• awaiting assessment by CACs, or
• assessed by CACs to have borderline developmental problem, or
• assessed by the OPRS team as having special needs with reference to the “Child Observation Checklist” (COC).
• Referral is not required for Tier 1 Support Services. Parents/carers of Tier 1 children above can approach teachers, social workers in pre-primary institutions or service teams of participating KGs/ KG-cum-CCCs for enquiry and application.


• Target group of Tier 2-
• Children under the age of 6 and studying in KGs/ KG-cum-CCCs participating in the OPRS who are –
• assessed by paediatrician, clinical psychologist/educational psychologist, or qualified professionals as recognised by SWD to have mild disabilities.
• As in existing practice, referrals should be made by social workers of Medical Social Services Units, Integrated Family Service Centres, Family and Child Protective Services Units, Adoption Unit, Social Work Service Units for Pre-primary Institutions or designated service units to Central Referral System for Rehabilitation Services–Subsystem for Disabled Pre-schoolers (CRSRehab-PS).

An Evaluative Study on the Effectiveness of the Pilot Project on Tier 1 Support Services in Kindergartens / Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres

• Social Welfare Department commissioned a consultancy team headed by the City University of Hong Kong to conduct an evaluative study on the service delivery model and effectiveness of "The Pilot Project on Tier 1 Support Services", which was completed in June 2024.



Co-Chief Principal Investigators：

Dr. Anna HUI Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Dr. Angela SIU Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Researchers：

Miss CHAN Lai Yin Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong (September 2022 to September 2023) Miss CHENG Man Sze Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong (August 2020 to July 2022) Mr. LAM Hon Sang Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong (August 2020 to July 2022) Dr. NG Ka Yee Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (August 2020 to July 2022) Miss POON Hang Sin Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (August 2020 to December 2022) Mr. SAM Chung Ting Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong (November 2022 to January 2023) Mr. WONG Chung Yu Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (August 2020 to December 2021)



• The research plan included two major objectives：

	(a)	evaluating the mode of service operation of the Pilot Project by the project teams and recommending key parameter, service scope, and essential output and outcome indicators to be adopted for the service models(s); and
	(b)	exploring the feasibility and recommending the service mode of merging the Pilot Project and OPRS to provide comprehensive and support for children with various levels of special needs at different stages.



• The research methods：

	(a)	longitudinal tracking of the development of the children participating in the Pilot Project; and
	(b)	questionnaires and interviews with relevant stakeholders (teachers, parents and professionals from service operators) to collect views and opinions on the Pilot Project.



• The Final Report of the Evaluative Study can be downloaded here：
Final Report
Appendices (Only Chinese version is available)

What’s New

Pre-school rehabilitation Service-School-based Model