ENG-1963 — Page 254

SOCIAL WELFARE

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assisted in this way and there is every indication that this welcome assistance will continue.

A second hostel for street boys, in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island, was opened in October by the British Common- wealth Save the Children Fund.

Probation. Additional to their function of supervising offenders on probation, probation officers are now being more frequently used to make social inquiries and reports to court on offenders prior to sentence. The capacity of juvenile correctional institutions was increased by the addition of the combined probation and remand home for 170 boys at Begonia Road, Kowloon, which is the first probation institution. A similar home for 50 girls was opened at the old remand home at Ma Tau Wei, Kowloon. The capacity of the existing approved school at Castle Peak has been increased to 150 and a second is planned. Useful services on the preventive and positive side were offered by the Juvenile Care Centre and the Society of Boys' Centres for the residential training of those who need to overcome behaviour and other difficulties. The Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society continued its valuable assistance in finding jobs and in the provision of temporary accom- modation and material assistance for discharged prisoners to assist their return to society.

Women and Girls. In the rehabilitation of young prostitutes, the care of unmarried mothers and girls in moral danger or victims of indecent assault, the Social Welfare Department offers a counselling service while institutional care and training are pro- vided in two voluntary institutions, Pelletier Hall and the Po Leung Kuk. A variety of day training classes are also offered to women and girls at the vocational training centre at Tung Tau resettlement estate where 75 trainees were given a good opportunity to equip themselves for future employment and a new way of life.

Relief. The number of families who were receiving public assistance in the form of cooked meals or dry rations at the end of the year was 3,026 as against 4,284 at the same time last year, a decrease of 29.4 per cent. A number of voluntary agencies, in- cluding CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Church World Service, Lutheran World Service and the Seventh Day Adventist Welfare Service operate supplementary feeding schemes in which surplus American foodstuff in large quantity is converted into noodles