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SOCIAL WELFARE
The services are provided on a regional basis and administered by the family services division. They include counselling on problems of family and inter-personal relationships, on the treatment of children, and on difficulties arising from mental and physical disability, unemployment, illness, and sudden loss of the family breadwinner. The division also effects referrals for schooling, employment, financial assistance and medical treatment, and it arranges for the placement in appropriate institutions of children in need of care, unmarried mothers, the aged and the infirm. In 1976, a total of 22,225 families and individuals availed themselves of these services. School social work is another of the division's activities, and it also has responsibility for the co- ordination of family life education, the preliminary processing of adoption papers, the registration and inspection of child care centres, and liaison with voluntary agency institutions to ensure they observe reasonable standards.
The division exercises certain of the Social Welfare Department's statutory responsibilities in terms of the Protection of Women and Juveniles Ordinance, the Adoption Ordinance and the Child Care Centres Ordinance. These responsibilities include the assumption of guardianship of children found abandoned or found to be in moral or physical danger, and the conducting of social and other enquiries in rela- tion to applications for adoption prior to their consideration by the High Court. In the case of applications from overseas families for the adoption of local children, the enquiries are conducted with the aid of two voluntary organisations-Caritas and the International Social Service. A total of 375 local adoptions and 17 overseas adop- tions were finalised during the year.
For abandoned and lost children, or those found wandering or in need of protection, the division maintains a reception centre where they may be provided with immediate temporary care and attention.
Many varied services are provided by the voluntary agencies. These include family and marriage counselling, the operation of child care centres, the provision of a home-help service, and the maintenance of homes and institutions for children and young people with behavioural problems.
Rehabilitation
With the object of assisting the disabled to become independent and contributing members of society, rehabilitation services are provided at 18 centres and institutions and are augmented by the work of many voluntary agencies. These centres and institutions are administered by the rehabilitation division of the Social Welfare Department, and a number of them offer residential care facilities for the more severely handicapped. In 1976, vocational training and/or sheltered work was provided by the division to a daily average of some 1,500 disabled people. In addition, 1,400 people received braille and mobility training, audiometric testing, auditory training, vocational guidance and employment placement assistance throughout the year.
The division is also responsible for the co-ordination of welfare services for the elderly, which entails liaison with 28 residential care establishments catering for some 3,400 old people. In terms of the public assistance scheme, indigent old people are eligible for a monthly grant to meet the fees of these establishments and to cover other