The following is issued on behalf of the Community Care Fund Secretariat:
The Community Care Fund (CCF) today (August 1) announced the rollout of the Pilot Scheme on Living Allowance for Carers of Elderly Persons from Low-income Families Phase III and the Pilot Scheme on Living Allowance for Low-income Carers of Persons with Disabilities Phase II in October 2018.
The two pilot schemes aim to provide carers of elderly persons/persons with disabilities from low-income families with a living allowance to help supplement their living expenses so that elderly persons/persons with disabilities with long-term care needs may, with their carers' assistance, receive more proper care and continue to live in a familiar community. The two pilot schemes will be administered by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) with details as follows:
(1) Pilot Scheme on Living Allowance for Carers of Elderly Persons from Low-income Families Phase III
The Pilot Scheme was first launched in June 2014 and its Phase II was launched in October 2016. Phase III of the Pilot Scheme will last for two years and the quota will be increased by 2 000, bringing the total quota of beneficiaries to 6 000 for all three phases. Eligible carers of elderly persons must meet all of the following criteria:
- the elderly person(s) being taken care of must be living in Hong Kong and has/have been assessed under the SWD's Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services to be of moderate or severe level of impairment, and has/have been on the Central Waiting List waiting for subsidised long-term care services (i.e. residential care services and/or community care services) on or before November 30, 2017;
- the elderly person(s) being taken care of must be living in the community, without using any residential care service or undergoing long-term hospitalisation during the application period and while receiving the allowance;
- the carer must be capable of taking up the care-giving role and is providing at least 80 hours of care-giving work per month, or not less than a total of 120 hours per month for taking care of more than one elderly person who meets the aforementioned criteria at the same time;
- the carer must be a Hong Kong resident who is living in Hong Kong and not engaged in any form of employment relationship with the elderly person(s) under his/her care;
- the carer must not be a recipient of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), Old Age Living Allowance (OALA), or the living allowance under Phase II of the CCF Pilot Scheme on Living Allowance for Low-income Carers of Persons with Disabilities for taking care of the same elderly person; and
- the monthly household income of the carer must not exceed 75 per cent of the relevant Median Monthly Domestic Household Income (MMDHI), excluding assets.
(2) Pilot Scheme on Living Allowance for Low-income Carers of Persons with Disabilities Phase II
The Pilot Scheme was first launched in October 2016. Phase II of the Pilot Scheme will last for two years and the quota will be increased by 500, bringing the total quota of beneficiaries to 2 500 for the two phases. Eligible carers of persons with disabilities must meet all of the following criteria:
- the person(s) with disabilities being taken care of must be living in Hong Kong and has/have been on the waiting lists on or before March 31, 2018, for any of the specified rehabilitation services subsidised by the SWD, special school with boarding placement under the Education Bureau or infirmary service of the Hospital Authority;
- the person(s) with disabilities being taken care of must be living in the community, without using any residential care service/boarding service of special school/infirmary service or undergoing long-term hospitalisation during the application period and while receiving the allowance;
- the carer must be capable of taking up the care-giving role, and is providing at least 80 hours of care-giving work per month, or not less than a total of 120 hours per month for taking care of more than one person with disabilities who meets the aforementioned criteria at the same time;
- the carer must be a Hong Kong resident who is living in Hong Kong and not engaged in any form of employment relationship with the person(s) with disabilities under his/her care;
- the carer must not be a recipient of CSSA, OALA, or the living allowance under Phase III of the CCF Pilot Scheme on Living allowance for Carers of Elderly Persons from Low-income Families for taking care of the same person with disabilities; and
- the monthly household income of the carer must not exceed 75 per cent of the relevant MMDHI, excluding assets.
A monthly allowance of $2,400 will be disbursed to each eligible carer of elderly persons/persons with disabilities, and a maximum of $4,800 per month will be disbursed to those carers who take care of more than one elderly person/person with disabilities at the same time. The subsidy period will start from October 2018 at the earliest and end in September 2020.
Starting from today, the SWD will issue letters to the elderly persons/persons with disabilities concerned for inviting their carers to apply for the allowance. Applicants are required to submit the completed application forms together with all necessary documents by post or by hand to the CCF Team of the SWD on or before October 31, 2018. Upon completion of the vetting, the SWD will notify the applicants of their application results in writing. Approved service providers, which are responsible for providing support services, will also approach the carers concerned and the elderly persons/persons with disabilities being taken care of to arrange support services and follow-up on the payment arrangement for the allowance. Existing beneficiaries under the two pilot schemes are not required to submit new applications. The SWD will separately notify them of the relevant arrangements in writing.
For details of the two pilot schemes, please visit the CCF website (www.communitycarefund.hk) or the SWD website (www.swd.gov.hk). For enquiries, members of the public may also call the CCF Team of the SWD at 3422 3090 during office hours.
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