STRATEGIC AREAS

KEY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA AND OBJECTIVES  2024-25

DELIVERABLES AND IMPACT
2024-25

1.  Agenda Setting –Advocacy of policy and service response to selected social agendas, in partnership with the social service sector and key stakeholders

1.1  Maintain an annual agenda setting process to engage the welfare sector in the deliberation of emerging social service needs and identification of policy and service responses. 

• • Engage welfare sector members in driving agenda setting and coordinate the submission to the Government.
  • Engage related Bureaus and Departments to discuss the selected agenda before policy address.

1.2  Follow up on selected social agenda for sustained social impact, including:

• To develop an innovative service model for carer support within the community that not only meets the needs of carers but also catalyzes a shift towards more personalized and effective forms of support.

• • Identify and analyze potential overseas service models that could be adapted to enhance the support network for carers within Hong Kong’s unique community landscape. A community-focused service model will be created to emphasize and address the specific needs of caregivers in the local context.

• The development of palliative and end-of-life care policy, to facilitate the discussion on advance care planning and supporting service among NGOs and other stakeholders, and to increase public awareness of advance care planning.

• • Hold a breakout session in S+ Summit and Expo on compassionate community for people with life limiting illness and carers.
  • Conduct a design thinking workshop and focus groups to design a framework, a guideline and manual of advance care and life planning for social workers to use in the community setting. The result will be promoted through life and death education festival with a conference.
  • Conduct a research to highlight needs of people with chronic / life-limiting illness, or their carers.

• Follow up on youth-friendly psychosocial support for children and youth with mental health needs

• • Involve social workers and professionals in identifying the psychosocial needs of children and youth with mental health issues, addressing service gaps, sharing practice wisdom, and developing an effective youth-friendly psychosocial support model. Pilot “Secret Chat” Online Chat Counselling Project in collaboration with the Solutions Hub and the sector.
  • Make recommendations for improving youth mental health services.

• Enhance accessibility to dementia service and develop innovative care model to enhance the quality of dementia service, especially to the underserved populations.

• • Develop an action plan to suggest the way forward for dementia service, including the integration of use of technologies into dementia care, such as telehealth solutions.
  • Integrate technologies into dementia service with a focus on a personalized and patient-centric approach.

• Initiate 1-2 social agenda led by small NGOs for S+ Expo cum Summit 2025, to create opportunities for more extensive exchanges with mainstream NGOs to enable them to take a more prominent role in driving meaningful change.

• • Organize dialogues and networking events to provide opportunities for sharing insights, exchanging ideas, and identifying potential collaborative initiatives.  Collaborate with the business sector to create partnerships and drive meaningful change.

2.  Impact-oriented culture –Transform HKCSS’s culture and systems towards driving impact

2.1 Implement S+ Expo cum Summit 2024 to deepen the discussion on the selected agenda and formulate specific direction and strategy with cross sectoral sectors, and, on the other hand, provide rooms for nurturing collaboration across NGOs, funders, private companies and other professionals.

• • A full day Summit will be held on May 2 with 1 keynote session and 12 breakout sessions with speakers from both local NGOs/professional/corporate sectors and overseas.
  • An Expo will be held on May 3 with more than 140 exhibitors showcasing innovative projects and solutions addressing various sustainable development goals.  Other engagement sessions would also be held within the venue of the Expo.
  • A panel session co-organized with the Financial Services Development Council would be held to discuss the Emerging Trends of Philanthropy and Impact Investment in Asia-Pacific.
  • 5,ooo attendees from different sectors and fields are expected. 

3.  Co-creation –Joint efforts within HKCSS and across the sector to develop innovative approaches to address underserved social issues

3.1 Mobilize joint efforts of social service and other sectors to co-create impact-driven and viable solutions for addressing selected underserved issues with a common vision.  Key initiatives in 2024/25 include:

• Formulate new strategies and mechanism of the Caring Company Scheme corresponding to the new positioning with the completion of the revamp exercise.
• Expand network with philanthropists, family offices and impact investors, to accelerate co-creation for social good, addressing pressing social issues and scaling impactful solutions.
• Identify and incubate impact-driven solutions together with NGOs, social enterprises, and other sectors.

• • Stakeholders Engagement:
    • Produce a new narrative for the repositioned Caring Company Scheme, with a streamlined nomination mechanism to be developed to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of participating companies and nominators, and to prepare for using the data system for mapping social needs with corresponding coping strategies.
    • Draw collective efforts of relevant partners to explore possibilities for narrowing the current social agenda gaps in different aspects, including: Caring Property Initiative in residential estates, inclusive employment and responsible ageing.
  • Impact Giving:
    • Conduct a landscape study in collaboration with a university / research institute on emerging trends & existing gaps in HK’s philanthropy sector.
    • Facilitate knowledge sharing & foster partnerships with relevant stakeholders in other cities.
    • Launch “The Future of Hong Kong” – a co-creation project funded by JP Morgan, to equip disadvantaged youth with career readiness, resilience and the skills demanded by emerging industries and markets, so as to broaden their career pathways and promote social mobility.
  • Solutions Hub:
    • Care Food: Launch the phase two of Care Food project, to improve the quality of life (QoL) and well-being of the presbyphagia and/or dysphagia population (end-users) and their carers by promoting and adopting the Guideline of Care Food Standard in the community.  Explore with collaborators in GBA for the promotion of care food concept and the adoption of care food guideline.
    • Building Tung Chung: Launch the Building Tung Chung 3.0, to develop a constructive future-focused approach and envision the beauty of the Community through integrating all the insights generated from those capacity builders.

4.  Tech-enablement – Improve the sector’s tech capability for more efficient and modernized service delivery, as well as service planning and advocacy

4.1 Promote open-source application software and cloud platform deployment that fulfills IT standards requirements for use by NGOs, especially small NGOs, to achieve a high degree of IT adoption via this short path.

• • More open source application with back-office and e-Services systems will be deployed in SocTech Hub for NGOs to subscript.  Explore adoption of common data structure or share use of system features by using ITRC cloud platform.

4.2 Gain a better understanding of the current landscape of AI applications in social services, and explore the deployment of different AI solutions or application in Social Services.

• • Deploy different AI solution in SocTech Hub and open for NGOs to learn more new applications and how to enhance its enhance NGO operation efficiency and productivity.  Conduct workshop or training on AI adoption in social services for NGOs.

4.3 Facilitate cross-NGO collaboration support network to pull together expertise for knowledge and experience sharing on Big Data Analysis, with a target to achieve data-driven decision making for enhancing services development.

• • Conduct workshop or sharing session for NGOs and experts to share on data security and data proficiency.
  • Collaborate with an elderly mental health project to demonstrate the experience of 60+ service units in making use the big data to enhance the services connectivity and planning.

4.4 Explore scaling up of the tele-practice pilot project and to further developing the platform as a hub for promoting physical and psychosocial well-being for elderly and people with disabilities.

• • Consolidate the experience of the trial run of the tele-practice platform targeting at the elderly and persons with disabilities. Identify and explore funding for the next phase of development.Eexpand the service coverage by engaging more service providers, technology suppliers and users.

4.5 Continue to organise the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit to strengthen awareness and knowledge on gerontechnology and to foster an ecosystem and cross-sectoral collaboration.

• • The GIES 2024 is scheduled for 21-24 November 2024 (Thursday to Sunday) at the HKCEC Hall 1ABC. 
  • Efforts will be made to enhance the exposure and network of local and mainland tech companies through closer connection and collaboration.

4.6 Collaborate with stakeholders to conduct community-based initiatives in promoting awareness and adoption of Gerontech solution(s) for better elderly and rehabilitation care with participation of demand-side and supply-side stakeholders of the Gerontechnology Ecosystem.

• • Identify key stakeholders in 1-2 districts (e.g. Sham Shui Po & Northern District) to promote awareness and adoption of Gerontech solution(s). Demonstrate the community-based channels to enhance accessibility of Gerontech related information to enhance care for people with needs e.g. elderly singletons and doubletons households.

5.  Talent Development –Develop new initiatives for talent acquisition, development, and retention at HKCSS and the sector

5.1 Establish vehicles at sector level to drive talent development in the NGO sector. Strengthen sector leaders on up-to-date knowledge and practices on governance, leadership, organization management, and talent development.

• • Implementing the 1st Cohort of “JC InnoPower Social Welfare Fellowship” to enhance senior management’s leadership and competence in developing service, organisational and sectoral resilience.
  • Attempt other programmes middle to upper middle levels practitioners in the sector.

5.2 Expand communication channels to promote talent development topics/issues to a wider audience both within and beyond the sector, and to cultivate a learning and nurturing environment for developing sustainable talent pipelines

• • Organize activities as platforms of engagement and exchange for practitioners in the sector and for the members of NGOs governance.
  • Launch social media platforms for communicating with NGO sector and other sectors on talent development.

5.3 To facilitate co-creation and network building within and beyond the sector for empowerment of sector leaders of various levels.

• • Launch a community of fellow within the framework of JC InnoPower Social Welfare Fellowship.
  • Build exchange networks among members of NGO Governance.
  • Facilitate formation of other communities or networks for various levels of practitioners within NGO.

5.4 Enhancing Governance Practices of Small NGOs

• • Conduct case studies of NGOs with strong corporate governance to identify high performers of small NGOs to capture learning points from their experiences and best practices. Twenty small NGOs will benefit from improved corporate governance practices, resulting in better transparency, enhanced risk management, increased service monitoring, and greater readiness for funding application. This will contribute to a more robust and accountable NGO sector in Hong Kong.

5.5 Management & Leadership Training for Home Managers of Subvented and Self-financed RCHEs & RCHDs, to enhance Home Manager’s leadership skill and management skills, and to provide Home Managers with a mutual support platform to extend their network and view sharing in the area/ knowledge exchange with other HMs in both private and sub-vented sectors.

• • Develop and implement Training Programs for Home Managers.
  • Study Tours focus on Caring Quality Improvement of RCHs
  • Residential Care Home Development Platforms Building (RCHEs & RCHDs)