Welfare Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee on Social Work Training, the Social Work Training Fund Committee and the Community Relief Trust Fund Committee; all but the first of these committees have been established since 1962, the last two by statute; their composition and terms of reference are set out in Appendix 5.
10. The Department tailors its operations as much as is practicable to match or complement those of the voluntary agencies. They were the pioneers of social welfare work in Hong Kong as elsewhere and continue to provide not only most valuable but often essential services. Much of this voluntary effort is subvented from public funds, as Appendix 6 shows. Very broadly speaking, the Department is responsible for those functions within the welfare field which are required by statute, for basic services such as public assistance or registration of the handicapped, for a variety of casework and community services as described in later chapters, and for liaison with voluntary agencies; while the voluntary effort carries on its traditional function of pioneering in fresh directions as well as providing many institutions, vocational training, supplementary relief, and a great variety of other services.
STRUCTURE
11. The Department is divided into functional sections, each of which is headed by a Principal Social Welfare Officer, a professional officer with long experience and often specialized training in his or her particular field. Each section head is responsible on professional matters to an Assistant Director who is a qualified and experienced social worker, and on administrative matters to an Assistant Director who is a senior member of the administrative service. A detailed account is given in the relevant chapter of this report of the functions of each of the seven Sections; these are-
the Youth Welfare Section
(including community organization);
the Probation Section
(including correctional institutions); the Special Welfare Services Section
(services for the handicapped);
the Child Welfare Section
(including adoption and liaison with day care and residential
institutions for children);
the Women and Girls' Section
(moral welfare);
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