SOCIAL WELFARE
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The government is advised on social welfare policy by two committees - the Social Welfare Advisory Committee, covering the whole area of social welfare, and the Rehabilitation Development Co-ordinating Committee, on matters of rehabilitation. Members of these committees are appointed by the Governor, with non-officials as chairmen.
In the provision of welfare services, the Social Welfare Department maintains a close working partnership with non-governmental organisations, most of which are affiliated to the Hong Kong Council of Social Service.
During the year under review, many services were expanded with the addition of 1 376 day nursery places, 231 day creche places, 180 occasional child care places, 42 extended- hour child care service places, 14 small group homes, 80 foster care places, 16 home help teams, two urban hostels for single persons, one family care demonstration and resource centre, 19 family activity and resource centres, 37 family caseworkers, 16 family aides, 10 clinical psychologists and four family life education workers. For young people, two new outreaching social work teams were set up, 59 additional school social workers were provided and nine combined children and youth centres were established through the reprovisioning of existing centres. For older people, a further 252 homes for the aged, 1 531 care-and-attention places, 11 social centres, five day care centres and two multi-service centres were set up. For people with a disability, four sheltered workshops, six day activity centres, 12 hostels, three care-and-attention homes for severely disabled persons, two small group homes for mildly mentally handicapped children and one care and attention home for aged blind persons were established.
The Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance, which came into operation on November 1, 1993, widened the circumstances in which a child may be considered to be in need of care or protection and provided the Director of Social Welfare with more flexible powers to investigate and intervene in a suspected child abuse case by requiring the child to go through an assessment procedure. An inter-departmental review of the implementation of the ordinance was conducted in June 1994 to further streamline the procedures for handling care or protection cases under the ordinance.
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Co-ordinated efforts from multi-disciplinary professionals and various government departments are tackling the problems of children and youth at risk, including child abuse, teenage suicides and drug abuse, which have attracted public concern. The Co-ordinating Committee for the Welfare of Children and Youth at Risk was appointed in April 1993, under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Health and Welfare, to co-ordinate services and advise on the development of related policies in the future. Two working groups chaired by the Director of Social Welfare the Working Group on Child Abuse and the Working Group on Services for Youth at Risk were established under this committee in mid- 1993. During the past year, the Working Group on Child Abuse re-examined its earlier recommendations, most of which have been implemented. A number of major issues are still being pursued by the working group, including the setting up of district fora on child abuse, publicity and public education to prevent child abuse, and a review of handling procedures on child abuse cases. The Working Group on Services for Youth At Risk completed its deliberations on the issue of teenage suicide and recommended a number of measures. These include a risk potential study among junior secondary school students, a survey of local hotlines for young people, promotion of a peer group support network and
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