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SOCIAL WELFARE
the City Hall on September 1 of the 4th Pan Pacific Rehabilitation Conference which was jointly sponsored by the International Society for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service. The Conference, working on a theme entitled 'New Talent for the Community', explored various new employment outlets for the disabled.
Considerable progress was made in the provision of additional institutions and homes for the rehabilitation of disabled persons. On September 5, His Excellency the Governor opened the World Rehabilitation Fund Day Centre, which provides vocational training and employment for about 340 disabled persons. The Kai Nang Training Centre and Hostel, which was planned to provide hostel accommodation and vocational training for about 200 mentally-retarded children and adults, was completed in October. With financial assistance from the Lotteries Fund worth $874,000 the Society for the Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts was able to purchase and furnish five flats and to establish a pilot town centre for the treatment and rehabilitation of women drug addicts. A scheme to provide approximately 120 aged people with furnished homes instead of institutional accommodation- was launched by the Hong Kong Christian Service, the Social Welfare Department and the Housing Authority; the scheme was assisted by a grant of $30,000 from the Lotteries Fund for the purpose of furnishing 36 flats in the Wah Fu Estate. Other projects included the recruitment of volunteers for rehabilitation work: volunteers from the Hong Kong Red Cross Junior Groups ran summer schools for retarded children, whilst the Interact Club of Queen's College built a skating rink for deaf children in Chai Wan.
During the year the number of disabled persons registered with the Social Welfare Department was 14,444; of whom, 293 were found employment with the assistance of the Department.
Public Assistance aims at alleviating distress and relieving the hardship of individuals and families during the time that they need to re-establish their financial independence. Such assistance is given in the form of dry rations and cooked meals. In certain categories of cases, it is given in the form of small cash grants with which the recipient can meet his and his family's immediate needs. Cash