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SOCIAL WELFARE
with the standards laid down in the legislation. During the year, government subventions were made through the Social Welfare Department to child-care centres providing 11,571 places. These were for children from low-income families whose parents were unable to look after them during the day. A residential service was also provided in some acute
cases.
Medical social workers assigned to government hospitals and clinics work closely with doctors and nurses to help patients and their families to cope with the many personal problems which often accompany illness or disability.
The Adoption Unit handles both local and overseas adoption. With the influx of Viet- namese boat refugees to Hong Kong, the unit plays an important role in handling adoption cases involving Vietnamese children. At the end of the year there were 482 cases of legal adoption by court orders, 20 proposed adoption cases and 144 cases of overseas adoption.
Care of the Elderly
In 1980, people aged 60 years and over constituted 9.7 per cent of the population com- pared with 4.8 per cent in 1961. This increasing proportion of elderly people in the com- munity has resulted in a growing number of services and facilities catering to their particular needs.
These services, which are provided mainly by the voluntary sector with assistance from the government, aim to promote the well-being of the elderly through care in the community, and by the community. The range includes home help, meals, visiting and laundry services, community education, and social and recreational activities. Multi-service centres for the elderly serve as focal points for the provision of these services and, at the end of 1980, there were five of these in operation.
Hostel-type accommodation in public housing estates is provided for elderly single people or couples who are capable of independent living but who do not have families or are unable to live with them. For those who require personal or nursing care, residential institutional facilities are available in the form of homes for the aged and care-and-attention homes. At the end of 1980 there were 324 places in care-and-attention homes and 3,161 places in homes for the aged.
Community Building
While constantly reviewing and expanding the many welfare activities which have come to be regarded as standard services in Hong Kong, the government has attached increasing importance in recent years to promoting community welfare in a much wider sense.
The Community Building Policy Committee was formed in 1977 to draw together and co-ordinate a territory-wide network of services and facilities which aims broadly at creating a cohesive and harmonious society in which to live. The need to foster community spirit and a sense of belonging is particularly evident in the large public housing estates and the fast-growing 'new towns' of the New Territories.
Special emphasis is given to promoting mutual concern and a community spirit by encouraging and supporting such community organisations as mutual aid committees, owners' corporations, area committees, kaifongs, rural committees, clansmen's associa- tions, community service groups and other voluntary organisations; also by providing and encouraging the provision of physical facilities for group and community activities. These facilities are provided in community centres and halls, estate community centres, kaifong and rural committee buildings, village offices and youth and children's centres throughout Hong Kong.