TNAG-1856-FCO40-2631-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 210

28 June 1989

一九八九年六月二十八日

74

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

香港立法局

Unfortunately, the pressures of modern life take their toll, and some families experience marital break-down, difficult relations with their children, or physical or mental illness which threaten the security of the family and the well- being of the children. The Social Welfare Department and the voluntary agencies operate 53 family service centres which provide counselling and a range of other services to help such families. In addition, 50 home help teams are available to provide support with household chores and home management. The home help service is particularly valuable for single parents, parents with chronic illnesses or disabilities, and parents in hospital or in prison. A review of this service will be completed shortly and the advice of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee will be sought on how best to develop it further.

Children often suffer the most from family break-down or disharmony. Regrettably, not all family problems can be solved, even with the most competent professional help. Sometimes, the children involved will have to be cared for away from their families.

Because of the importance attached to maintaining the child within the family wherever possible, institutional care is always treated as the last resort. Whenever possible, children are placed in one of the 12 "small group homes" or with foster families. It is hoped that these facilities can provide the best alternative to their own families.

Following a recommendation by the Social Welfare Advisory Committee that the provision and quality of residential facilities should be kept under review, a steering group, comprising representatives from the Social Welfare Department and voluntary agencies, is reviewing the demand, provision and development of the various types of residential child care services and is submitting regular reports.

For children without families, such as orphans and abandoned children, attempts are made to find a suitable permanent home through the Social Welfare Department's adoption service. Every effort is made to keep the processing time to the absolute minimum.

In order to help children from becoming subject to undesirable influences, there are 20 outreaching social work teams whose staff try to establish direct contact with vulnerable children in places which they frequent, such as public playgrounds. Particular targets of this service include school drop-outs, run- away children, and members of street gangs.

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