Teams connect with minority families

October 13, 2024

Devoted worker:

Kiran Fatima speaks passionately about serving ethnic minority households as a member of the LINK Centre’s EM Care Team.

Real impact:

Mohammad Bilal (third right) is grateful for the assistance he and his family have received from EM Care Team members.

Integrated approach:

Ann Tam says EM Care Teams follow up on cases referred to them by District Care Teams, as needed.

Additional centres:

Wilson Kwong outlines that two additional support service centres for ethnic minorities will be established by the end of this year.

Download Video| Transcript

Ethnic Minority Care Team member Kiran Fatima:
Hello. My name is Kiran Fatima. I am serving (in the) EM (Ethnic Minority) Care Team. I speak several languages, such as the Pakistani languages Urdu, Punjabi and Pashto, and a little bit of Cantonese.

Voiceover:
Kiran is a member of the Ethnic Minority, or EM, Care Team at the LINK Centre, one of the support service centres for ethnic minorities commissioned by the Government. The EM Care Team promotes its services via street booths.

The setting up of EM Care Teams was announced in last year’s Policy Address, with each of the support service centres for ethnic minorities being tasked with setting up a team. Eight teams were launched in July of this year, and each team is expected to assist at least 500 ethnic minority households each year through household visits or outreach activities.

Ethnic Minority Care Team member Kiran Fatima:
Through the local ethnic minority community network and referrals from District Care Teams, our Ethnic Minority Care Team will visit ethnic minority households to establish connections and disseminate important government messages.

A recent example is dissemination of the latest information on Typhoon Yagi to remind ethnic minorities to take precautionary measures.

We will understand their needs and introduce public services, welfare and medical services, as well as information about the services of the District Care Teams and support service centres for ethnic minorities. When needed, we will assist in referring their cases to relevant departments or organisations.

Voiceover:
This care team is shown visiting an ethnic minority family to follow up on their situation. Mohammad Bilal, a father of four, praised the team for their help in resolving difficulties faced by his family. 


Mohammad Bilal:
As a parent, my biggest challenge today is my youngest daughter’s behaviour. Sometimes I will get really frustrated at her behaviour, so that is where I reached out to the LINK Centre. And then the Ethnic Minority Care Team came to visit our house. During their visit, I shared with them my problems more openly.

It is hard for me and my wife to understand school problems like the kids’ homework and the kids’ school notices. I cannot help them. 

The Ethnic Minority Care Team has helped us to do the translation of the homework, and the school notices for parents.

Additionally, the (EM) Care Team has arranged (play therapy) for my daughter, in order to improve her condition, at the LINK Centre.

My wife also attended some parenting workshops offered by the LINK Centre, which were in English and designed to meet the needs of ethnic minorities.

Also, the LINK Centre has helped us to apply for the Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong & Macao Residents (non-Chinese Citizens).


LINK Centre person-in-charge Ann Tam:
The LINK Centre Ethnic Minority Care Team has been providing services since July 2024. We promote our services by setting up street booths and visiting places where ethnic minorities gather.

We work closely with the District Offices and District Care Teams. Whenever the District Care Teams encounter problems or difficulties when serving ethnic minorities, they could refer the cases to us for further follow-up.

The LINK Centre’s EM Care Team is led by one social worker and three programme workers who are familiar with ethnic minority languages and cultures. We also recruit ethnic minorities as volunteers, and we provide basic training to them, such as points to note when conducting home visits.

Voiceover:
Excluding foreign domestic helpers, around 300,000 people from ethnic minority groups currently reside in Hong Kong. The Home Affairs Department has adopted a multi-pronged approach to supporting their integration into the community through district networks.

Assistant Director of Home Affairs Wilson Kwong:
We mainly provide various types of services to them through our eight support service centres for ethnic minorities such as language classes, integration programmes, counselling services and referral services. Among these centres, the CHEER Centre at Kwun Tong also provides instant telephone translation services in eight minority languages to facilitate them to get access to public services. These centres provide services to over 100,000 service recipients every year.

Another new initiative in the 2023 Policy Address is the setting up of two new support services centres by the end of this year. One is in Kowloon Central and the other one is in New Territories East, bringing the total number of centres to 10. Furthermore, we have also regularised the enhanced services to youth and newly arrived ethnic minorities, currently provided by the support service centres. 

In addition, we are going to continue to implement the “District-based Programme for Racial Harmony”, in order to organise more activities at the district level to facilitate communication and interaction between ethnic minorities and the local community.

Kiran Fatima, who is of Pakistani descent, speaks a number of Pakistani languages – namely Urdu, Punjabi and Pashto – as well as English and some Cantonese.

Her knowledge of different languages helps her in her role as a member of the Ethnic Minority (EM) Care Team at the LINK Centre, one of the support service centres for ethnic minorities commissioned by the Government.

The establishment of EM Care Teams was announced in last year’s Policy Address, with each of the support service centres being tasked with setting up its own team. Eight teams were launched in July of this year, and each team is expected to assist at least 500 ethnic minority households annually through home visits or outreach activities.

Community support

Miss Fatima explained that after establishing contact with families through community networks, as well as referrals from the District Services & Community Care Teams (District Care Teams), the EM Care Teams visit ethnic minority households to connect with them, offer assistance, and disseminate important government messages. “A recent example is dissemination of the latest information on Typhoon Yagi to remind ethnic minorities to take precautionary measures.”

As EM Care Team members often speak the same languages and share similar cultural backgrounds to the ethnic minority families they visit, Miss Fatima believes they are well equipped to understand the needs of such households. Besides providing information about public services, welfare and medical services, and the services offered by District Care Teams and the support service centres for ethnic minorities, they can assist in referring cases to government departments or other organisations for follow-up, she added.

Tailored services
Mohammad Bilal, a father of four, has faced challenges as a parent, not least in relation to his youngest daughter’s behaviour. “It is hard for me and my wife to understand school problems like the kids’ homework and the kids’ school notices. I cannot help them,” he said.

After the family reached out to the LINK Centre, they were visited by its EM Care Team, whose members now help with translations of homework assignments and school notices. The team has also arranged play therapy sessions for his daughter at the centre.

“My wife also attended some parenting workshops offered by the LINK Centre, which were in English and designed to meet the needs of ethnic minorities,” Mr Bilal recounted, adding that the family were thankful to have received assistance from the centre in applying for the Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong & Macao Residents (non-Chinese Citizens).

Outreach efforts

LINK Centre person-in-charge Ann Tam revealed that the centre’s EM Care Team is led by one social worker and three programme workers who are all familiar with ethnic minority languages and cultures. It also recruits ethnic minorities as volunteers, and provides basic training for them in areas such as how to conduct effective home visits.

Miss Tam explained that the care team’s services are promoted at street booths and through visits to places where ethnic minorities gather. “We work closely with the District Offices and District Care Teams,” she added. “Whenever the District Care Teams encounter problems or difficulties when serving ethnic minorities, they could refer the cases to us for further follow-up.”

More service centres

Excluding foreign domestic helpers, around 300,000 people from ethnic minority groups currently reside in Hong Kong. The Home Affairs Department has adopted a multi-pronged approach to supporting their integration into the community.

Assistant Director of Home Affairs Wilson Kwong outlined that the department provides a variety of services for ethnic minorities through the eight support service centres. These services include language classes, integration programmes, counselling services, referral services, and more.

One of the eight centres, the CHEER Centre in Kwun Tong, also provides instant telephone translation services in eight minority languages to facilitate access to public services. “These centres provide services to over 100,000 service recipients every year, and we will set up two more centres by the end of this year. One is in Kowloon Central and the other one is in New Territories East, bringing the total number of centres to 10.”

Mr Kwong added that the department has regularised the enhanced services to youth and newly arrived ethnic minorities. It will also continue to implement the “District-based Programme for Racial Harmony”, which includes organising activities at the district level to facilitate communication and interaction between ethnic minorities and the wider community.