SOCIAL WELFARE
Legislative Council and subsequently published as a White Paper early in 1991, setting out government's policies for the future development of social welfare services for the 1990s and beyond.
To expedite provision of care-and-attention places for the elderly to cope with the increasing demand, efforts have been made to establish care-and-attention units in homes for the aged in public housing estates, in addition to erecting purpose-built care and attention homes. The first of its kind which has a capacity of 45 care-and-attention places and 80 home places commenced operation in August 1990. This is in line with the concept of providing a spectrum of services to minimise the need to transfer elderly persons to other institutions when their health condition deteriorates.
To improve the service quality, physiotherapy service is now provided in care-and- attention homes and day care centres for the elderly.
In the area of services for young offenders, to bring the level of pre-vocational training closer to that provided by pre-vocational schools, the syllabi of the pre-vocational classes of the department's correctional institutions have been reviewed and improved. Links with the Vocational Training Council have been strengthened. A growing number of discharged trainees go on to vocational courses managed by the Council and the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training. Subsequent to employing qualified teachers to run academic classes in the institutions, 13 residents joined the Secondary School Places Allocation System and were allocated places for the first time in 1990.
Apart from expanding existing services to meet the demand for various social rehabilita- tion services, emphasis has been placed on finding new methods to improve employment opportunities for the disabled and additional resources to improve the quality of services.
Proposals for amendments to the Protection of Women and Juveniles Ordinance were concluded. These proposals would effect improvements by removing obsolete provisions and making significant changes in a number of areas for better protection of the child's well-being. The Working Group on Child Abuse continued its work in reviewing measures to combat child abuse and neglect with particular reference to inter-disciplinary collabora- tion and co-operation.
The Housing Department is entrusted with the fitting-out works for welfare premises in Public Housing Estates under a rolling programme. The number of services with standard layout plans which are covered by this programme has been increased to seven, includ- ing day nurseries, children and youth centres, social centres, hostels for the elderly, halfway houses for discharged mental patients and homes for the aged with care-and- attention units.
During the year, five new day nurseries, three new homes/hostels for the aged, five homes cum care-and-attention units, one care-and-attention home, two day-care, two multi-service and 18 social centres for the elderly, two group work units and 13 children and youth centres were established.
Provision of these additional services and the increase in the social security caseload were reflected in increased recurrent expenditure.
Community Chest
The Community Chest, which organises and co-ordinates funding-raising activities for its member agencies, raised $88.2 million in 1989-90, compared with $71 million in 1988–9. (See Appendix 32B).
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