152
SOCIAL WELFARE
total of 84 appeals during the year. Of these, four were related to public assistance, 79 to special needs allowance, and one to traffic accident victims assistance.
Services for Offenders
The Social Welfare Department has several statutory duties in the field of services for offenders. These duties have the objective of giving effect to the directions of the courts on the treatment of offenders through social work methods. The overall aim is to rehabilitate offenders through probation supervision, residential training for young offenders and after-care services.
Probation applies to offenders of all age groups. It allows offenders to remain in the community under the supervision of probation officers and subject to prescribed rules set by the courts. Volunteers from many walks of life participate in the 'Volunteer Scheme for Probationers', which enhances community participation in the rehabilitation of offenders.
Under the Community Service Orders Ordinance, the courts may order offenders of or over 14 years of age who are convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment to perform unpaid work of benefit to the community for a number of hours not exceeding 240 in a period of 12 months. A two-year pilot scheme on Community Service Orders was implemented from January 1 in three magistracies - Central, Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan. The Community Service Order aims at being both punitive and rehabilitative. Offenders subject to a Community Service Order are supervised by probation officers who provide them with counselling and guidance and arrange work for them.
In April, a Young Offenders Assessment Panel was set up jointly by the Social Welfare Department and the Correctional Services Department. The panel, comprising profes- sional staff from the two departments, provides additional assistance to magistrates' courts in the sentencing of convicted young offenders through the provision of a co- ordinated view on the most appropriate programme of rehabilitation. This represents an improvement in the arrangement of dealing with young offenders aged between 14 and 25. The Social Welfare Department operates seven residential institutions, each with a slightly different training programme to cater for the needs of the residents. Educational, pre-vocational, and character training is provided to assist juvenile offenders to return to the community as law-abiding citizens. The Begonia Road Boys' Home and Ma Tau Wai Girls' Home are combined remand and probation institutions for juvenile offenders and youths in need of statutory care and protection. The Pui Chi Boys' Home has helped to alleviate overcrowding in the probation section of the Begonia Road Boys' Home. Similarly, the Pui Yin Juvenile Home, operating since February 1986, has contributed to improving the conditions at the remand sections of the Begonia Road Boys' Home and Ma Tau Wai Girls' Home. The Castle Peak Boys' Home is a reformatory school for boys aged 144 to 16 on admission, while the O Pui Shan Boys' Home is a similar institution for those aged under 14 on admission. The Kwun Tong Hostel is a probation hostel for young men aged between 16 and 21. Following a review of the educational programmes in these institutions, the department is planning to introduce major improvements to the curricula, teaching standards, and facilities for academic teaching and vocational training. There are also long-term plans to improve residential facilities by constructing a new girls' home in Tuen Mun and reprovisioning the Castle Peak Boys' Home and Begonia Road Boys' Home.
The Social Welfare Department also operates an after-care unit which helps offenders to rejoin society by preparing them before they leave reformatory schools and supporting them after discharge. Besides the work carried out by the Social Welfare Department,