doubtless a number of cases attributable to hardship caused directly or indirectly by the 1967 disturbances; secondly, changes in the criteria for qualifying for public assistance undoubtedly made many more people eligible for assistance than previously and also increased the amount for which they are eligible. A third factor is the additional publicity given to the work of the Department during the summer partly in con- nection with the reorganization of the Department and the opening of the Kowloon District Office, and partly arising out of special efforts to counter subversive activities by publicizing Government services more effectively.
92. The section is also responsible for providing such cash assist- ance as has so far been authorized, and during the year a total of $57,722.50 was paid to 268 families. The number of cases receiving cash assistance during the six-month period from October 1967 to March 1968 amounted to 320. A number of families who could have qualified for the receipt of cash assistance opted to continue receiving assistance in kind. This was probably due to a temporary increase in the cost of foodstuffs with the result that they might have been able to purchase less with their cash grant than the equivalent amount of dry rations distributed by the Department. Nevertheless with the return of more normal conditions during the last quarter consideration was being given to a further expansion of the scheme in the belief that cash assist- ance payments remain the most desirable form of public assistance both from the administrative and social point of view.
93. It was also noticed that there was some increase in the number of persons referred for assistance by voluntary welfare agencies. This may perhaps be due in some degree to the establishment of the district offices providing a full range of welfare services concentrated under the same roof. It was therefore reasonable that families having multiple problems, instead of only a relief problem, might be more effectively handled by the Department and were thus referred to it. The gradual reduction of overseas support encountered by some agencies might also have been instrumental in increased referrals, and as a result of close co-operation with the Medical and Health Department social workers more referrals were made between both departments so as to provide quicker service in appropriate cases.
94. It is fortunate that there was no large scale natural disaster throughout the past year. The typhoons that visited Hong Kong caused only slight damage to the Colony and very few people suffered from
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