Hong Kong childcare scheme under scrutiny as 9-month-old allegedly abused by nanny from district babysitter programme

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  • Lawmakers warn incident will dent confidence in government’s neighbourhood support childcare plan; appeals to authorities to set up better training
  • Training for community carers varies as there are no standard guidelines given by the Social Welfare Department
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Hong Kong to review childcare scheme as lawmakers warn alleged abuse of infant girl could damage district babysitter programme. Photo: Shutterstock

Hong Kong welfare officials plan to review the training of nannies recruited under a government-funded childcare scheme after a nine-month-old girl was alleged to have suffered severe injuries from being abused.

The authorities made the move on Sunday as lawmakers warned that the incident could undermine public confidence over the neighbourhood support childcare programme and appealed to the government to set up a more comprehensive training framework for operators and more closely monitor service quality.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said authorities were “highly concerned” by the incident and had demanded a report from Yan Oi Tong, the NGO in charge of operating the childcare programme.

“We wish the baby girl a speedy recovery and express our deepest sympathies to the parents,” he said. “The current training guidelines and standards will come under review as the government increases the incentive payment of community nannies in April.”

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han says the child abuse incident is highly concerning for the authorities. Photo: Edmond So

Sun was speaking a day after a 33-year-old woman was arrested in connection with suspected abuse of the child, who was on Sunday said to be in a critical condition in hospital.

He added that he believed Yan Oi Tong had provided training in line with guidelines. But he declined to comment further because of the police investigation.

Hong Kong had more than 1,700 community nannies recruited under the programme by June last year. They are paid HK$25 (US$3.20) an hour. They cared for more than 10,000 children under the age of nine in 2022-23.

The government in the last policy address pledged to increase payment to HK$40 per hour for people who cared for children aged three to nine, and to HK$60 to those caring for toddlers aged below three, or with special educational needs. The increases are part of a policy package to reverse the city’s declining birth rate, which plunged to a record low in 2022.

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But the SCMP found training and admission requirements of NGOs varied. The training packages given to babysitters ranged from two to eight hours.

Most NGOs prefer previous childcare experience in childcare, but it is not an absolute requirement. Some also ask whether applicants have criminal records.

The police inquiry was sparked on Friday after staff at Tuen Mun Hospital found a blood clot on the baby girl’s brain. Early investigations suggested that the baby had been subjected to abuse, and the babysitter was arrested.

Hong Kong had more than 1,700 community nannies recruited under the programme by June last year. Photo: Cindy Sui

A police source told the SCMP that the baby’s parents had asked Yan Oi Tong for a babysitter earlier this month after the family’s domestic helper went on leave.

The baby’s father left the child in the babysitter’s care at 9.30am on Thursday. He got a call at 2pm that day from Yan Oi Tong staff, who told him that the baby had suffered a spasm after having a bath.

The source said the baby was rushed to Tuen Mun Hospital after the parents arrived at the babysitter’s home at around 3.30pm and found the child unconscious.

The child’s left eye was swollen and a blood clot was found on her brain. She needed an operation and is being treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

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Doctors reported the case to the police as the injuries were suspicious.

The Social Welfare Department said the arrested babysitter was a “community nanny” with the government’s neighbourhood support child care project, which launched in 2011.

The department said the woman, who has a two-year-old son, had recently completed training and started work this month. The injured infant was the first child to come under her care.

The government has commissioned 18 NGOs to operate the scheme in the city’s 18 districts.

The infant was rushed to Tuen Mun Hospital after she was found unconscious at the babysitter’s house. Photo: David Wong

Yan Oi Tong was responsible for the recruitment, assessment, screening and training of the babysitters, as well as service arrangements in Tuen Mun district.

The NGO on Sunday said it would not comment on the alleged incident because of the police investigation.

“We will do our best to cooperate with the investigation and extend our heartfelt condolences to the family,” a spokesman for the NGO said. “We wish the child a speedy recovery.”

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Bill Tang Ka-piu, a lawmaker and member of the welfare services panel, said he was worried the incident could harm the reputation of the community nanny programme, where most babysitters were committed to providing a good and safe service.

“As the government increases the incentive payment, the public will have a higher expectation of the quality of babysitters,” he added. “It is to the benefit of no one when people lose confidence in the scheme, considering the high demand for such services.”

Tang appealed to the government to draw up a more comprehensive training framework to address the needs of children at different stages of development and to maintain public confidence in the scheme.

Lawmaker Bill Tang Ka-piu, is concerned that the child abuse incident will damage the reputation of the community nanny programme. Photo: Winson Wong

Tik Chi-yuen, a welfare sector lawmaker, said training for community carers varied from one organisation to another because no standard guidelines were provided by the Social Welfare Department when the service was launched.

“Admittedly, the training now given to the community babysitters is very poor – some organisations only offered a few hours’ workshop and called it a training,” he said.

He appealed to the department to establish thorough guidelines on professional training for participants with no previous experience of childcare and for the establishment of a monitoring system for partner organisations.

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Tik suggested the organisations should carry out a visit to the potential carers’ home before they were matched with a family.

“The lesson learned here is that the authority should review children’s services in the community as a whole,” he said.

Doreen Kong Yuk-foon, the deputy chairman of the welfare service panel, said some improvements could be made in the short-term, such as a requirement for all service providers to include a first aid course in their training programmes.

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