While children are the future pillars of our society, their personality and abilities are greatly affected by their living environment and family care. Various family problems, such as divorce, financial distress, emotional/mental health issues or domestic violence, can bring long term negative impact to the development of children.
Alleviating teaching stress by providing counselling, casework and referral service to families in need
When encountering parents and children with family problems, sometimes school principals and teachers have to take up the role as a listener or counsellor. However, this significantly adds to the burden of the teachers who have already got heavy workload.
In view of this, HKSPC has started providing stationing school social work service to some of our nursery schools since 2007, and extended the service to all our 17 nursery schools in 2017. The school social workers, by using their professional knowledge and skills, provide casework, group-work and referral services to the parents and children in need, which helps to relieve the pressure faced by teachers as well. Starting from early-2019, HKSPC has actively participated in the 3-year “Pilot Scheme on Social Work Services for Pre-primary Institutions” launched by the government. We are now serving altogether 24 pre-primary institutions with the 3 phases of the pilot scheme, including 6 external kindergartens, and 17 nursery schools and 1 day crèche under HKSPC.
Caring and understanding from the heart turns parents from resisting to accepting help
Doris and Cherry have been working as stationing social workers at our nursery schools/kindergarten served by HKSPC for 9 years and 6 years respectively. Having supported numerous families in need, some cases with serious problems have left a deep impression on them.
“The most unforgettable case for me was a family of three. The father just left the family the other day without giving any reason. Furious and heart-broken, the mother soon developed symptoms of insomnia, loss of appetite and depression. Her negative emotions even affected her son, who began to show anxious behaviour such as nail biting at school,” Doris shared.
“I suggested the mother to seek medical assistance at first, but she was very resistant to it and even avoided talking with me, as she did not want to be labeled as having mental illness. Fortunately, I was able to keep contact with her through stationing social work service. I asked about her situation and listened to her feelings proactively, and she came to feel that I did care for her and her son. She once said to me, ‘Doris, you are not like other social workers! You don’t just tell me to go see a doctor as soon as possible, but are genuinely caring and encouraging.’”
“Later, she became willing to accept our assistance and referral. Her emotion became more and more stable after receiving professional treatment. We also provided play therapy service to her son to help him express his feelings and emotions, and his behavioral problems improved a lot.”
Build the sense of security in children and letting them feel the love and care
Cherry shared another case, “There was a child whose parent did not want to take care of him and left him with his grandparents. The child thought that he was abandoned by his parents and always tried to raise other people’s attention by crying and making troubles. He would cry and ask his grandparents, ‘Please don’t abandon me.’ He also kept asking them ‘Where are you going?’ and grabbed them tightly and did not let them go.”
“Actually, these behaviors indicated that the child lacked sense of security, so we helped him rebuild the sense of security through play therapy. We also taught the grandparents how to deal with young children, and shared parenting skills such as letting the child know where they are going and when they will be back, and expressing their love to him by words and cuddling. His behavioral problems gradually disappeared as he could feel the love and care from his grandparents.”
Providing comprehensive support to prevent serious family problems
HKSPC’s stationing social work service designates one social worker to stay at the school two days a week for providing support to parents, children and teachers. For parents, stationing social workers organise various parenting activities to teach parenting skills and knowledge. They also provide consultation and casework service through face-to-face meetings, home visits or counselling, so as to solve parents’ problems, strengthen their parental efficacy and reduce the risk of family crisis and child abuse.
For children, stationing social workers use play therapy to help children with emotional or behavioral problems to regulate their emotions. They also organise different developmental groups to help enhance children’s social skills, self-confidence and emotional development, preparing their adjustment to primary school.
With their professional knowledge, stationing social workers also provide consultation and training to teachers on how to early identify children and families in need or with high risk, and to provide timely support and referral to them. Moreover, stationing social workers work closely with teachers in observing the physical and mental changes of children, understanding their family background, and providing timely and appropriate support actions so as prevent domestic violence, child abuse and other family problems.
Social workers also need support and encouragement
Quite often, stationing social workers have to handle cases with serious family problems. It is important for them to regulate their feelings and emotions appropriately, and maintain their professionalism at the same time.
“As a social worker, I am also just a normal person. I also feel upset and unhappy when handling some unpleasant cases. However, we accept that we can have different emotions. We also remind ourselves not to allow these emotions to cause biased judgement, and to keep listening, accepting and understanding. And of course, taking a break once in a while helps a lot!” Doris shared.
“Sometimes I might bring negative emotion from work to home, but I am so grateful for my family for their support and encouragement. They give me positive vibes and that motivates me to overcome the difficulties at work, so that I can keep helping more families in need,” Cherry said.
Bringing positive changes to families and witnessing their recovery
Cherry and Doris are both very dedicated to their work as they deeply understand the true meaning of the job, even though it is always full of challenges.
“Sharing happiness with other people is easy, but sharing hardship is difficult. We treasure it when parents put their trust in us, despite we have not experienced their pain and may not truly understand their feeling. Indeed, it is not easy for them to open up and share their feeling of helplessness and hardship with others. However, witnessing them recovering from their suffering and starting a new life with hope is inspirational, enriching my belief and understanding of life. It makes me realize human lives can be so tough and strong,” Doris said.
“The job of social workers is to support people in need, and to empower them to be capable to solve their own problems. When we are able to bring positive changes to families facing hardship, the fulfilment is beyond description,” Cherry added.
Apart from our two stationing social workers, Carmen Chan, our Assistant Service Director (Stationing Social Work Service for Young Children), who has over 20 years of experience in social work, also shared the background of HKSPC’s stationing school social work service and how it has been supporting children and families in need over the years. Let’s listen to Carmen’s sharing on the parenting education platform Champimom.
Carmen’s sharing: https://bit.ly/3gSuuS7
Providing diverse services to low-income families to promote the positive development of children
In addition to the Stationing Social Work Service for Young Children, HKSPC has also been providing counselling service and diverse activities to low-income families, and encouraging parents’ engagement in nurturing their children through our Children & Family Services Centres, without financial support from the government. Let’s join hands and work together to promote the healthy growth and development of children.
| Our Work Achievement | ||
| Service Name | Children & Family Services Centre (Sham Mong Districts) | Children & Family Services Centre (Kowloon City) |
| Service Period | 2011 to Present | 2003 to Present |
| Service Group | Children aged 0 to 12 and their families | Children aged 0 to 16 and their families, including local Chinese and ethnic minorities |
| No. of Beneficiary Families Per Year | About 500 families | About 400 families |
| How to support us: | ||
| By making a donation of $500, 1 session of parent-child activity will be provided for families with financial difficulties. |
Please select Children & Family Services Centres
If you or your organisation are interested in supporting our services or have any enquiries, please contact us.
Stationing Social Work Service for Young Children
Tel: 3184 7250
Email: ssw@hkspc.org
Children & Family Services Centre (Sham Mong Districts)
Tel: 2309 1690
Email: cfs_sm@hkspc.org
Children & Family Services Centre (Kowloon City)
Tel: 2760 8111
Email: cfs@hkspc.org