SOCIAL WELFARE
192
Seven residential homes with a total capacity of 470 places provide educational, pre-vocational and character training for children or young persons with behaviour or family problems and juvenile offenders.
The Young Offender Assessment Panel, jointly operated by the SWD and the Correctional Services Department, provides courts with co-ordinated professional views on sentencing options for young offenders aged 14 to under 25.
The Post-Release Supervision of Prisoners Scheme, also jointly operated by the SWD and the Correctional Services Department, assists discharged prisoners in their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community. In 2000, 931 ex-prisoners were placed under supervision. One subvented organisation provides hostel and supportive services for ex-prisoners.
Family and Child Welfare
The SWD and NGOs provide a variety of family and child welfare services. The overall objective is to preserve and strengthen the family as a unit through assisting individuals and families to identify and prevent or solve their problems, and to provide for needs which cannot be met from within the family.
There are 65 family services centres with 710 family caseworkers providing counselling, referral for child care, elderly and rehabilitation services, financial and housing assistance for 80 000 cases during the year.
To help strengthen families, about 5 300 programmes such as talks, small group activities and mass media programmes were conducted by 79 family life education. workers from the SWD and NGOs.
Support to families in need of assistance in home management, child care, and care for the elders and disabled is provided by 51 family aide workers. A family care demonstration and resource centre provides training in practical home management and caring skills, as well as resource materials for clients and social workers. The 19 family activity and resource centres set up in government-run community centres provide a drop-in service, mutual support and early identification and referral of cases in need of intensive casework service.
The clinical psychological service, with a staff of 67 clinical psychologists, provides in-depth assessment and treatment to people suffering from psychological problems. It also provides support to caseworkers, rehabilitation centres and residential homes. To strengthen the protection of children and families from domestic violence, co- ordinated services are provided by five regionally based Family and Child Protective Services Units. Three refuges provide 120 short-term residential places for battered spouses and their children who are victims of domestic violence and for girls at risk. All of them accept admission on a 24-hour basis.
The problem of street-sleeping is tackled through outreaching, counselling and referral services provided by the SWD's outreaching teams and family services centres, together with temporary shelters, urban hostels, and day relief centres operated by NGOs. The department has also worked closely with the Labour Department to help street-sleepers reintegrate into the workforce.
The SWD's hotline service provides 24-hour information on social welfare services. A Family Helpline manned by social workers provides individuals and families in face of crisis with immediate telephone counselling.
Page 240Page 241