SOCIAL WELFARE
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helpers, 41 social centres for the elderly and six multi-service centres which include day-care services for weaker and more infirm elderly people to enable them to remain with their families.
Considerable progress has also been made in assisting elderly people to solve their housing problems. Under a new priority scheme, application for public housing units by people aged over 60 will enable them to be rehoused in two years, compared with an average of seven years for ordinary waiting list applicants. In every new housing estate, with 3 000 flats or more, premises will be earmarked for an old people's hostel of 150 places. Half of the places will be for elderly single people, or couples, capable of independent living and the rest will be for those who need meals provided and assistance with washing and other daily chores. An additional 150 places were provided in hostels and old people's homes in 1981, bringing the total of such places to 4 315.
Those who are unable to take personal care of themselves and who require limited nursing care are referred to care-and-attention homes. At present there are 375 places in such homes and this number will rise to 2 940 by 1985–6.
Services for Young People
The Summer Youth Programme and the Chinese New Year Programme are the two main territory-wide functions for young people organised by the Central Co-ordinating Committee for Youth Recreation. The Summer Youth Programme attracted more than two million young people this year who took part in 8 000 different programmes. During the Lunar New Year, there were 223 events with some 57 211 participants.
In recent years, increasing emphasis has been placed on personal social work among young people and the school social work service, provided by the Social Welfare Department, the Education Department and voluntary agencies. This has been designed to assist pupils who have problems arising out of their school work or out of personal or family relationships. The service has now been extended to all secondary schools and a large number of primary schools.
A further area in which social workers are active among the young is in staffing outreaching teams, which establish direct contact with young people in the places they commonly frequent - such as cinemas, playgrounds and fast-food shops - to reach those at risk and who are unlikely to participate in organised youth groups or activities. There are now 18 teams operating in priority areas.
A major review of the Programme Plan on Personal Social Work Among Young People was carried out with the voluntary sector late in 1981, with a view to improving services and deciding on future planning targets and objectives.
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 development in a much wider sense.
The Community Building Policy Committee was formed in 1977 to draw together and co-ordinate a terrritory-wide network of services and facilities which aims broadly at creating a cohesive and harmonious society. 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.
At present, three government departments contribute directly to community building at the district level: The Home Affairs Branch and the City and New Territories Administration