Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility. According to Chapter 13 of “Protecting Children from Maltreatment – Procedural Guide for Multi-disciplinary Co-operation” published by the Social Welfare Department in April 2020, organisations should formulate child protection policies and measures, and provide staff with relevant training. As an organisation with over 95 years of history, HKSPC has an unshaken commitment to child protection, one that has not wavered despite various challenges and difficulties emerged over the years. We have newly established a Child Safeguarding Department before the commencement of the school year in 2022. With the leadership of Ms Subrina Chow, the Society’s Director, and the guidance of Dr Leo Chan, Executive Committee member and Paediatrician, I will join hands with colleagues to take a further step for the organisation’s mission of child protection. The Child Safeguarding Department has already initiated its work in three levels – policies, staff training and parent education. On policy level, we are currently preparing related documents with the target to set out clear policies and procedures, which comprise the mechanism of reporting and complaining. On staff training, we are on track with the schedule to train all our staff members for knowledge of child protection, so as to enhance their awareness to “put children’s welfare first” and confidence in handling related cases. As for parents, we will maintain communication with them about the organisation’s progress on policy implementation. We will also promote the message of child safeguarding and educate parents about their important role and responsibility in their children’s growth and development. Let us work together to help children grow up healthy and happy! Gloria Lau, Child Safeguarding ConsultantHong Kong Society for the Protection of Children

From the beginning of this year, HKSPC has carried out a series of reforms to uphold the “children-first” commitment and ensure our children are well cared for. We have already appointed the new Director of the agency and new Superintendent of Children’s Residential Home (CRH), and replaced the frontline child care workers at CRH. In addition, we have established new departments and positions comprising executives with extensive experience in the relevant fields in order to improve our governance and transform the agency’s overall culture, with a view to delivering the best services to the children we serve. Deputy Director (Child Care and Education) This new management role is held by Ms Mary Wong who has served in the social welfare sector for over 30 years, with broad experience in pre-school edu-care service development and management. She is mainly responsible for assisting the agency in further upgrading our pre-school edu-care services, including nursery schools, day crèches and CRH. She will work on enhancing the overall service quality, improving resources allocation and coordinating the collaboration between service units and teams. With regard to CRH, Ms Wong has been focusing on ensuring a smooth transition at the conclusion of the CRH Reform Project, particularly in providing professional inputs and support to enriching staff training in caring for children with special background and developmental needs, and implementing the ITERS/ECERS (Infant/Toddler and Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales). Child Safeguarding Department This newly established department is led by Child Safeguarding Consultant Ms Gloria Lau who has extensive experience in children’s work and law enforcement agency. Its mission is to develop new and forward-thinking policies and procedures. The Consultant, who is proficient at the SWD’s “Protecting Children from Maltreatment – Procedural Guide for Multi-disciplinary Co-operation”, will set out clear guidelines and carry out trainings to ensure that staff at all levels understand and follow the principles and practices of child safeguarding and protection. Comprehensive emotional support and guidance will also be provided to the employees, together with an enquiry hotline. For the public, the department will promote the principles and knowledge about child safeguarding. Ms Gloria Lau conducting staff training Risk Management, Compliance and Internal Audit Department (RMD) Reporting directly to the HKSPC’s Audit and Risk Management Committee, this new department comprises executives who have held key positions in multinational corporations, banks and the government. Their primary responsibilities include assisting the agency in developing and implementing a risk management and compliance assurance system, as well as conducting internal audits. Led by Audit and Risk Management Director Mr William Yue, RMD members are currently focusing on helping various departments assess their risks and come up with mitigation measures. We are excited to see our new management teams bring new inputs and perspectives to the development and governance of the agency, and all our staff members working together for a healthy, happy and safe childhood for our children.

I was invited to join the service of HKSPC early this year, initially on a voluntary basis. I assumed duty as Senior Deputy Director (Change Management) in early March, and after an open recruitment exercise, was appointed Director on 6 May. Given this important role, I pledge to do my utmost for our children’s wellbeing, together with colleagues and stakeholders, under the leadership of the Executive Committee. Since the Children’s Residential Home (CRH) incident came to light, the Society has been trying to identify problems and find solutions. In mid-March, the Chairman of the Executive Committee and I introduced the Society’s new measures and plans at a staff briefing titled “Change to Improve”. We sincerely invited all our colleagues to join the endeavour to transform the organisation’s culture and restore confidence in the Society among our service users, supporters, regulators and the general public. These few months with the Society have been the most challenging yet meaningful time of my work life. In collaboration with the Council of Non-profit Making Organizations for Pre-primary Education (CNOPE), we kicked started in late-March the 9-month CRH Reform Project to introduce fundamental changes to staff and facilities management to cater for the educare and developmental needs of the children in the Home. On top of government-subvented manpower, we now have 70% more child care workers to improve the staff-to-child ratio from 1:7 to 1:5. We have also deployed the same group of frontline staff to take care of a specific group of children, so that they can build stronger bond with each other. At the same time, we are hiring new clerical and administrative staff to give necessary support to the management so that they could devote their time to frontline supervision. The new CRH Superintendent (appointed in mid-March) and I, together with the Project Manager and Assistant Project Manager of the Reform Project, busied ourselves in tackling many big and small problems in the CRH operation, arranging intensive training for our new staff, and meeting to map out future development. It was hectic, and yet so rewarding. Through the Reform Project, we will explore a robust organisational structure and service model to build a loving, trusting and safe environment for our children. The hard work and devotion of HKSPC colleagues as well as the Reform Project team brought to us by the CNOPE, and the thought that our diligent and professional work will help grow the children under our care, spur me on. Most importantly, I can now feel a positive vibe in CRH, and the children’s laughters give us the strength to keep pressing ahead. Looking to the future, my colleagues at HKSPC and I will work hand in hand, learning from the past to turn crisis into opportunities. We must stay on course to serve the community at large, be it through residential or day child care, pre-primary education, school social work, pre-school rehabilitation services, or parental education and support. I want to thank you for supporting and walking with us through it all. May past sorrow and tears nurture a more healthy, happy and safe childhood for our beloved young ones! Director, Hong Kong Society for the Protection of ChildrenSubrina Chow6 July 2022 Biography of Ms Subrina Chow Subrina Chow was an Administrative Officer (AO) in the Hong Kong Civil Service for over 25 years, with experience in public policy and funding proposal formulation, programme design and assessment, project management, public relations and event organisation. She held 10 different positions in policy areas spanning civil service management, education, district administration, international trade relations and investment promotion, IT industry and e-government development, social welfare and labour affairs. In her last government assignment, she was the Assistant Director of Administration in the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Office, overseeing the Government’s liaison with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Ombudsman, as well as the administration of the Justices of the Peace system. Subrina spent over a decade of her AO career overseas. From 2008 to 2011, she was Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore. Her mission then was to enhance understanding and strengthen the economic relations between Hong Kong and the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). From 2013 to 2016, she was Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco, and led the efforts in bringing investments into Hong Kong from the 19 states in the western part of the United States. (She was also Deputy Director of the same office from 1998 to 2001.) Subrina worked twice in the former Education and Manpower Bureau. She was first involved in 1995 to 1997 in the drafting of a piece of legislation aimed at regulating the higher education and professional training courses conducted in Hong Kong by overseas and Mainland institutions. In 2002 to 2003, she was Secretary to the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), and completed a major review of language education policy that covers pre-primary up to post-secondary education and training of working adults. Subrina gained exposure to the policy areas of social security, welfare and rehabilitation services, manpower development and labour affairs when she served as Administrative Assistant to the Secretary for Labour and Welfare in 2007 to 2008. Before joining the Government, Subrina worked briefly with World Vision Hong Kong as a project officer in its Christian drug rehabilitation service and helped to set up a new residential home for young women. She resigned from the Government in 2021 to join UNICEF Hong Kong as its Executive Director.