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(c) Various information pamphlets on the Scheme are widely available both directly to the public at the Social Security Field Unit (SSFU), other service units of Social Welfare Department (SWD), District Offices, the Local Employment Service of the Labour Department and for distribution through NGOs and concern groups. Improvements to make these publicity materials more user friendly are in progress;
(d)
(e)
Taped messages on the Scheme have been placed on our interactive 24- hour telephone hotline to assist enquirers; and
A video tape on the Scheme is played regularly at SSFUS. We have just completed production of another video tape which provides explanations of various special grants available under the Scheme. These tapes are made available to non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Secondly, we are aware that some members of our community might feel inhibited from coming forward because of a possible stigma attached to obtaining public assistance. We have therefore requested our frontline staff in various service units of the SWD to be emphathetic, tactful and flexible and to impart a proper perspective on CSSA to their clients. In this connection, we have introduced various measures including training for staff and improved staffing levels so that the staff are better equipped and can spend more time with their clients for each application. Our front-line staff also make special efforts to render assistance to disabled applicants. In addition, a pilot Customer Liaison Group on social security services has been et up to gather feedback on our services.
As NGOs have close contacts with the public, we have enlisted their support in that their social workers would, where appropriate, take the opportunity to introduce the Scheme to their clients, in particular to new immigrants, single parents and elderly persons. To this end, our social security staff organize regular briefings to NGOs to explain the CSSA Scheme to their staff as well as their clients.
But we believe more can be done on this front. To promote a better understanding among social workers and other professionals in the field about the social security schemes, we have invited tertiary institutions to consider how social security systems might be included into the general social work curriculum and to consider how workers in the field can be briefed on the schemes. The aim is to ensure that professional social workers coming into contact with the needy would be in a position to give basic advice to their clients about social security matters.
Thirdly, we seek to make CSSA more readily accessible by simplifying the procedures and improving service delivery.