rental payments up to an approved limit were discounted when assessing family income for the purpose of determining eligibility for public assist- ance. In addition a further allowance was made for a limited amount of other cash assistance granted by a voluntary agency. This, in effect, amounted to a belated recognition that in relation to public assistance shelter and education are as necessary to human existence as the need for sustenance. A further important innovation was introduced when, starting from 1st June 1967, cash payments were substituted for relief in kind, although limited at first only to certain categories of persons such as the aged and the disabled.
18. Public assistance is supplemented by assistance given by voluntary agencies often in the form of cash grants for medicine or living expenses. This assistance is often on a short-term basis and arises through temporary stress in the family from serious illness, death or imprisonment of the breadwinner.
19. Rehabilitation of the client starts together with the first stage of temporary relief. This is sought through the medium of services such as counselling, employment assistance, help with housing or train- ing. The need is of course most in cases where there is some disability or defect such as physical disablement, deafness, blindness or mental defect. Rehabilitation is not only confined to the physical aspect but also extends to relieving social disability and embraces such persons as the discharged prisoner, the cured leprosy or tuberculosis patient, the man who cannot keep a job and the drug addict.
20. The second group of services are those offered for the care and protection of children who are neglected or abandoned or who need attention because of poverty or ill treatment. Ill treatment of children is comparatively rare in Hong Kong and abandonment of children is on the decrease. This remains a very important part of the work of the Department, carried out in discharge of a statutory responsibility, and covers not merely the protection of those who come into care but also the prevention as far as possible of opportunities for exploitation of children. It includes all forms of child care including homes for tem- porary or long-term care; day nurseries for day care; and adoption and fostering of children.
21. The services for youth aim at ensuring that children and young people are provided with healthy and character-forming outlets for energy, while at the same time protecting them from immoral influences
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