are limited or inappropriate, by reference to the specialized voluntary agency which can best meet the needs so disclosed.
76. More intensive casework, aimed at rehabilitating and restoring people in want more rapidly to full or at least partial economic independ- ence, and relative improvement in the economic and employment con- ditions for fit young people in the Colony, were two quite separate factors that contributed to a further continuous decrease in relief expenditure during the year. The average daily number of dry rations issued has steadily dropped from 7,402 in 1961-62 to 2,859 this year, and of cooked meals from 4,244 in 1959-60 to 1,217, reducing the total relief commit- ments to the lowest level since 1957. But it should be noted that, while financial commitments continue to fall, the work of officers of the Relief Section does not; it is only through more intensive casework and frequent home visits and interviews that means can be found effectively to assist the needy and others to overcome their difficulties, and to assume or resume control over their livelihood for themselves. The help given ranges from the securing of employment to rehabilitation and vocational training, from referrals for medical attention to compassionate resettle- ment. The details may be seen in Appendix 21. Provided that the economy of Hong Kong continues buoyant and maintains itself in relation both to the soaring population which is in prospect and to the inevitable rise in demand for reasonably paid work (as to-day's teeming children and adolescents become to-morrow's enterprising young people and adults), there is hope that such a constructive approach will keep relief commit- ments in the future near their present comparatively low level-provided also that sufficient social workers with proper training in casework are available.
77. The Relief Section maintains seven welfare centres and two large kitchens, through which the staff bring a casework service to the poor and provide 'first aid' relief feeding. These centres are at Yau Ma Tei, Sham Shui Po and Wong Tai Sin in Kowloon; at Happy Valley, Hospital Road (Sai Ying Pun) and Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island; and at Tsuen Wan in the New Territories. The two kitchens, one at Happy Valley and the other at Hung Hom, are capable of producing cooked food in great quantity at short notice, and can jointly provide a hundred and ten thousand meals a day, to meet a large-scale natural disaster.
78. While public assistance for the destitute as such is an accepted responsibility of the Government, a number of voluntary agencies provide foodstuffs on a considerable scale. Chief among these agencies are Catholic
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