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SOCIAL WELFARE
The services are provided on a regional basis and are administered by the Family Services Division. They include counselling on such problems as inter-personal re- lationships, the abuse and ill-treatment of children, and difficulties arising from mental and physical disability, unemployment, illness and sudden loss of the family bread- winner. The division also provides care and protection for children and young girls exposed to moral and other dangers, and the placement of children as well as elderly and disabled people into appropriate institutions. For children found abandoned, lost or in need of protection, the division maintains a reception centre where they are provided with immediate temporary care.
The division also is responsible for exercising, on behalf of the Director of Social Welfare, certain statutory powers under the Protection of Women and Juveniles Ordinance (Cap. 213), the Adoption Ordinance (Cap. 290), the Marriage Ordinance (Cap. 181) and the Offences against the Person Ordinance (Cap. 211).
A new activity is the provision of school social work services to 85 schools. These services enable school children to make the best use of their educational opportunities, and help reduce the drop-out rate by providing advice and help to pupils who have personal or family problems.
A variety of services are provided by voluntary agencies, such as counselling on family and marriage, child care, home help services, foster care and institutions for children and young people with special behavioural and family problems.
Rehabilitation
With the objective of integrating disabled persons into the community through the development of their capabilities, rehabilitation services are provided at 1-8 centres and institutions run by the Rehabilitation Division and augmented by many voluntary agencies. In 1977, an average of 1,500 disabled people a day received full-day training of various descriptions or worked in sheltered workshops. A further 1,500 benefited by braille and mobility training, audio-metric testing, vocational guidance and em- ployment placement assistance. Residential care facilities are available in some of these centres for the more severely handicapped. Sheltered work places were increased by 100 with the opening of a new workshop at Lek Yuen Estate. Vocational training programmes were stepped up.
The division also is responsible for co-ordinating welfare services for the elderly through liaison with 31 homes and hostels catering for 3,836 people. This represents an increase of three homes or 338 places over 1976 figures. Of the 31 homes, 17 were receiving government subventions to cover recurrent expenses. The home help service was expanded with the participation of the Hong Kong Christian Service. In addition, 40 social clubs were run by the division and voluntary agencies in community centres to provide social and recreational activities for the elderly.
In the voluntary sector, sheltered club places for the mentally ill were considerably increased with the opening of a second sheltered workshop of the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association at Wong Chuk Hang Estate. Construction work was underway to provide a new training centre at Pok Fu Lam for the Ebenezer School and Home for the Aged Blind. A six-month experimental minibus scheme for the disabled, co-ordinated by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service Committee on Access, was evaluated and provided significant findings on the value of the service.
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