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Social Welfare

visits. The Lump Sum Grant Independent Complaints Handling Committee handles LSG-related complaints that cannot be resolved satisfactorily at the NGO level.

From time to time, the government reviews and introduces measures to optimise the LSG grant arrangements. A task force set up under the SWD is looking into enhancing the system. It comprises Legislative Council members; representatives from the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and NGO management, staff and service users; LSG-related committees; independent individuals; the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the SWD. The review is expected to be completed by 2020.

Social Welfare Development Fund

The fund supports all subvented NGOs to carry out training and professional development programmes, business system upgrading projects and service delivery enhancement studies. By end-2019, grants totalling about $950 million had been approved for 161 NGOs.

Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged

The fund promotes cross-sectoral collaboration in social welfare projects by providing grants that match donations made by businesses. A portion of the fund is dedicated to providing matching grants to implement more after-school learning and support programmes for primary and secondary students from grassroots families. In 2019, about $62 million was allocated for 101 welfare NGOs and schools to implement 135 welfare projects.

Community Investment and Inclusion Fund

The fund finances diversified social capital development projects, promotes trust and reciprocity among the public and various sectors, and builds cross-sectoral collaborative platforms and mutual help networks to achieve a caring Hong Kong. In 2019, it allocated $141.8 million to 44 new projects. Ongoing projects recorded about 103,000 participants, including about 18,500 volunteers, and about 1,480 collaboration partners. Together, they have built about 190 mutual support networks.

Community Care Fund

The Community Care Fund helps people with financial difficulties, especially those who fall outside the social safety net or who are within the safety net but still have special circumstances that are not covered. As at end-2019, the fund had 25 assistance programmes operating under its auspices, with a commitment of around $6.8 billion benefiting about 430,000 cases. These included pilot programmes introduced to help the government identify measures that could be considered for incorporation into its regular assistance and service programmes. Thirteen such programmes have been incorporated into the government's regular assistance programmes since the fund was set up in 2011.

Child Development Fund

This fund provides children from disadvantaged backgrounds with personal development opportunities. Through the fund's projects, operated by either NGOs or schools, participants draw up and implement their own development plans under guidance, learn to accumulate savings and cultivate intangible assets, such as a positive attitude, personal resilience and social

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