ENG-1953 — Page 142

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953

Juvenile Delinquency. Marked progress has been made in the treatment of young delinquents. In the Juvenile Courts, besides making inquiries for the magistrates and supervising probationers, the Probation Officers have taken on the respon- sibility for the placement and follow-up of a number of juvenile vagrants, whom it has not been possible to send back to their homes in China and who are now being looked after by various private agencies. The opening, at the beginning of 1953, of a Children's Centre to which probationers could be referred for help has been of much assistance to the Probation Officers. One hundred probationers participate in the club activities which include elementary schooling, handicrafts and games; and thirty of them, previously street sleepers, are now resident on the Club premises. Attendance is regular and enthusiastic, and recidivism among the members has been small.

Institutional care is forging ahead with the setting up at Castle Peak of the first approved school for boys. Like the approved school for girls, this Home is being run on behalf of Government by the Salvation Army and it has already taken over inmates of the former Reformatory School at Stanley. The old Raformatory is now being used by the Prisons Depart- ment as a Training Centre for young prisoners. Sketch plans are being prepared for a remand home for juveniles and it is hoped that this building will be ready in 1954. So far, pro- bation as a form of treatment has been largely confined to juveniles, but this year draft legislation is being considered by Government which will, if approved, extend the use of probation to adult offenders.

Public Assistance. The effects of increasing poverty due to'a decline in trade, have been somewhat alleviated by generous gifts from abroad. Substantial shipments of used clothing have been received from the Women's Voluntary Service in the United Kingdom, the Australian Red Cross and American

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