TNAG-0876-FCO40-1086-Development-of-social-welfare-policy-in-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 235

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

CONFIDENTIAL

Probation and correctional services

4.39

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The probation and correctional services operate mainly in

response to the requirements of the courts and within the framework

of legislative authority, and there is therefore little scope from

the social work angle for initiating future policy. The probation

service will continue to be strengthened as necessary to meet the

demands made upon it, and additional institutional facilities will

be provided as required. The new Ma Tau Wei Girls' Home has solved

the problem of overcrowding experienced at the old home, and a new

probation hostel, with a capacity of 60 places, will be built in

Tuen Mun in 1981/2 to meet a shortfall in this area. Not all

juvenile court magistrates lay the same emphasis on the use of

correctional institutions; this leads to fluctuating occupancy rates

and difficulties in planning the education and pre-vocational

training of the inmates. It is necessary to monitor longer term

trends and to examine whether it is possible to change or modify the

use to which these institutions are put.

4.40

There is greater scope, however, for the expansion of

services in the general field of aftercare. The Volunteer Scheme for

Probationers will be expanded to 100 volunteers in the current year

and its effectiveness evaluated, while the number of probation

reporting centres will be increased to five by 1980-81. In the

voluntary sector, plans are in hand to establish hostels both for

licensees and for discharged prisoners who are considered not ready

for full reintegration into the community.

Supporting services

4.41

The increasing scope and complexity of social welfare

services in Hong Kong demand a parallel effort in developing supporting services, such as planning, research, evaluation and training. The

CONFIDENTIAL

機密

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