the beginning relief work, particularly related to emergency situations, was considered to be an important priority of the Department; now, the aim is rather to rehabilitate needy families and individuals in the widest possible sense, though the machinery for dealing with emer- gencies is still kept in good order.
114. One of the most important developments during the past ten years was the adoption by Government in 1965 of the Statement of Aims and Policy for Social Welfare in Hong Kong, for from this document has arisen the need for the projection of more concrete aims and objectives in a five-year development plan of social welfare services.
115. The ten years between 1958-59 and 1968-69 have been a formative period during which the Department has acquired a number of additional functions and now provides services in collaboration with no less than six other Government departments. It has been a period of increasing commitments and growth which, it can be predicted, will continue in the future. The provision of social welfare services require both further improvement and extension; future devel- opments depend very largely, however, on the review of a number of major issues. The Five-Year Plan, once accepted and implemented, should provide a comprehensive guide to the future provision of services by Government as well as by the voluntary welfare organiza- tion; the review of the 1965 Statement of Aims and Policy may set new aims and objectives to be pursued; the acceptance by Government of proposals for a revised programme of public assistance, the review of the 1967 re-organizations of the Department: all these impending reviews will have wide-reaching effects on the future of the Department as it steps into the second decade of its existence.
19 November 1969
G. T. ROWE Director of Social Welfare
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