PUBLIC ORDER
A Prisoners' Education Trust Fund set up with charitable donations in 1995 provides financial assistance to prisoners in educational pursuits, in the form of grants to cover course or examination fees, and expenses on reference books.
Vocational Training
To help young offenders to reintegrate smoothly into society as law abiding citizens, the department provides vocational training programmes for inmates aged under 21 to enable them to learn job skills, obtain accreditation and develop work habits.
The CSD offers various training courses that match with the inmates learning ability and needs. All vocational training courses meet the demands of the commercial and industrial sectors in Hong Kong, so that inmates can have a better opportunity for employment upon discharge. Some courses also help inmates to sit for the City and Guilds International or Pitman examinations and to gain accreditations, or to attain the prerequisite level required for enrolling in relevant courses of the Vocational Training Council. Other training courses are also provided to prepare inmates for employment or for vocational tests conducted by the Vocational Training Council and the Construction Industry Training Authority.
Correctional Services Industries
Employment keeps all convicted inmates, unless they are physically unfit, purposefully and gainfully occupied, thus reducing the risk of unrest due to boredom and lack of meaningful activities. It also helps inmates develop a work habit and acquire vocational skills.
In 2000, a daily average of about 6 600 inmates were engaged in industrial work. Workshops in penal institutions provide a wide range of goods and services mainly for government departments and public organisations. Examples are government furniture, staff uniforms and leather accoutrement, hospital linen, litter containers, mailboxes, traffic signs, paving blocks, slabs and kerbs for highways and infrastructure projects. Inmates also provide laundry services for the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health and other government departments. They also bind books for public libraries, undertake printing work and make envelopes for some government departments.
Production and services provided by Correctional Services Industries in 2000 were equivalent to $507 million in commercial value.
Prisoners' Welfare Services
Prisoners' Welfare Officers in the CSD look after the welfare of detainees and prisoners, who are not subject to statutory after-care supervision, and assist them to solve personal problems and difficulties arising from detention or imprisonment. Apart from conducting individual and group counselling sessions, Prisoners' Welfare Officers organise activities such as Pre-release Re-integration Orientation courses and meetings with family members of prisoners with the aim of helping inmates to reintegrate smoothly into society upon release and supplying them with information on community resources.
Drug Addiction Treatment
The drug addiction treatment programme aims to detoxify, restore physical health and, through the application of therapeutic and rehabilitative treatment, wean
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