Child care fee assistance invited
Members of the public whose children are enrolled in child care centres including day creches and day nurseries are invited to apply for financial assistance from the Social Welfare Department (SWD).
To be qualified for fee assistance, children in a child care centre should be under six years old, a department spokesman said today (Sunday).
"Parents or guardians who wish to apply must demonstrate that they cannot afford the full cost of the fees charged.
"They must also demonstrate that they are unable to provide adequate care for their children at home during the day, for reasons such as both parents having to work to earn a living, the child belonging to a single-parent family or family with presence of an aged or disabled member who needs special care," he said.
The spokesman said the amount of assistance payable was calculated with regard to the family's net income which was the difference between the family's total income and the recognised rent.
"The maximum amount of assistance payable will be based on the fees charged in aided child care centres. For 1995-96, the general maximum fee assistance level is set at $3,445 per month for day creches and $1,965 per month for day nurseries.
"Applications for the fee assistance scheme may be made throughout the year, but should preferably be lodged three months before the date of the child's admission to a child care centre," the spokesman said.
However, staff from SWD's social security field units will, from June to August, go to the child care centres to help needy parents process applications in batches.
To further publicise the scheme, SWD has recently re-printed a leaflet - Fee Assistance Scheme for Child Care Centres.
Copies of the leaflets can be obtained at child care centres, social security field units and district offices throughout the territory.
Interested persons who have enquiries about the fee assistance scheme can approach their respective social security field units or contact the Child Care Centre Advisory Inspectorate on 2835 2725.
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