District Support Scheme for Children and Youth Development
Funding for Developmental Project
Application Guide
(Revised April 2014)
Objective
1.
The District Support Scheme for Children and Youth Development (the
Scheme) aims at benefitting children and youth, aged 24 or below, who are
in deprived circumstances such that their developmental needs cannot be
satisfied by their families and / or the mainstream education systems.
2.
The developmental projects can be broadly categorised as follows –
(a) Addressing specific needs of children and youth who have strong
interests and talents in sports and arts e.g. music, painting and drama
etc.
(b) Enhancing self-reliance of unemployed youth e.g. mentorship
scheme on job-hunting / self-employment, job skills training etc.;
and
(c) Widening needy young people’s social exposure, through
participation in various positive development activities e.g. voluntary
services, leadership skills training and youth exchange programmes
etc.
3.
The developmental projects should also focus on specific district youth
issues e.g. cross-border youth drug abuse problem, youth employment
problems, and greater opportunities for children and youth of low-income
families to participate in social exposure and horizontal widening activities
etc.
Application Criteria and Requirement
4.
Welfare organisations [exempted from tax under Section 88 of the Inland
Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) in Hong Kong], including subvented
non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and units of Social Welfare
Department (SWD) can apply for the fund of the Scheme.
5.
Applicant NGO / SWD units are required to submit a completed
application form, at Enclosure I (Revised 2014), in both original and soft
copies, and other supporting documents as appropriate to the District
Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) of the district.
Proposals to be Accepted for Consideration
6.
The proposals should be tailored for meeting the objective of the Scheme
and currently not receiving funding support from the Government in any
form (e.g. funded by School-based After-school Learning and Support
Programmes by Education Bureau, Community Care Fund, Partnership
Fund for the Disadvantaged) or from any established charitable Trusts /
Foundations etc.
7.
The proposal should directly benefit children and youth, aged 24 or below,
in deprived circumstances such as those coming from families with
financial difficulties or disadvantaged families, those with difficulties in
schooling and learning, non-engaged youth, and youth-at-risk / young
offenders, ethnic minorities etc.
Criteria in Assessing Applications
8.
The following criteria will be adopted in assessing applications (a) priority will be given to proposals which will maximize the direct
benefits of children and youth in deprived circumstances;
(b) priority will also be given to proposals which show the ability to
provide quality and effective programmes in meeting the genuine
needs of the target group
(c) joint application from more than one NGO can be accepted but the
fund will be capped at the ceiling of one project (i.e. $100,000). For
innovative and district-wide projects conducted jointly by NGOs to
meet specific district needs, the ceiling of one project can be
increased to $150,000 with DSWO’s special discretion. A principal
NGO should be responsible for the application and comply with all
the conditions of the fund;
(d) use of the fund for purchase of fixed assets will normally not be
considered; and
(e) fund approved under the Scheme will not be allowed for the creation
of posts.
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Notification of Results
For NGOs :
9.
The applicant NGOs would be notified in writing the result of their
applications.
10. Successful applicant NGOs are required to adhere to the details set in the
Service Agreement at Enclosure II (Revised 2014) and sign the
Acceptance of Allocation at Enclosure II(a) (Revised 2014) before
allocation of funds be made to them.
For SWD units :
11. Successful applicant units will be informed by DSWO.
Financial Arrangement
12. Subject to the content of each proposal, the ceiling of allocation for each
developmental project is set at $100,000.
For innovative and
district-wide projects conducted jointly by NGOs to meet specific district
needs, the ceiling of one project can be increased to $150,000 with
DSWO’s special discretion.
For NGOs :
13. DSWO will authorise Finance Section of SWD to release the approved
amount of fund to the successful applicant (hereafter referred as “NGO
operating unit”) in one-go through advance payment by completing the
memo as at Enclosure III(a)(Revised 2013) or Enclosure III(b)(Revised
2012) as appropriate. SWD reserves the right to claw back the fund if the
NGO operating unit fails to implement the developmental project as
approved and on time.
14. The NGO operating unit is required to submit a certified financial report as
at Enclosure IV (Revised 2008) to DSWO within one month upon
completion of the developmental project.
15. The NGO operating unit should adhere to the instructions of SWD as
stated in Annex (Revised 2014) of Service Agreement at Enclosure II
(Revised 2014) for all financial arrangements and reporting requirements.
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For SWD units :
16. The successful applicant (hereafter referred as “SWD operating unit”) can
charge the expenses within the approved amount to the vote of DSWO in
accordance with the SWD’s pre-set procedures. DSWOs can also
consider virement of fund to the SWD operating unit.
Performance Measurement and Monitoring
17. Operating units (referred to both NGO and SWD units) are required to
forward to DSWOs of SWD an evaluation report within two months after
completion of each developmental project.
18. Operating units are also required to provide statistics to DSWO within one
month upon the completion of their developmental projects (but not later
than end of February each year) in accordance with the proposed output
and outcome indicators as per Enclosure V (Revised 2014).
19. DSWOs will forward statistical returns from operating units to Youth
Section of SWD, together with a covering memo indicating the total
expenses on developmental projects in the district as at Enclosure VI
(Revised 2014), on or before 5th of March each year.
20. District staff of SWD will monitor implementation of developmental
projects through visits to projects, collecting feedback from project
participants, checking financial report, etc. as appropriate.
21. For any major change of project particulars (e.g. project objective, major
programme plan) or use of fund after approval of proposed project,
operating units should seek prior approval from respective district staff of
SWD concerned in writing and provide the details and reasons of change.
Insurance
22. Operating units need to maintain proper insurance policy regarding
Employees’ Compensation Insurance and Public Liability Insurance for the
developmental projects.
Youth Section
Social Welfare Department
(Revised in April 2014)
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