ENG-1993 — Page 349

PUBLIC ORDER

Female Offenders

Adult females serve their sentences at the Tai Lam Centre for Women, which also has sections for remand prisoners and those undergoing drug addiction treatment. Most of the women are employed in an industrial laundry, which provides services to government departments and public hospitals.

Female offenders under 21 years-of-age are held at the Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution, where separate sections are provided for training centre inmates, drug addiction treatment centre inmates, young prisoners and those on remand.

Bauhinia House serves as a halfway house for women and girls released under supervision from the training centre or under the Pre-release Employment Scheme. Residents of this halfway house also go out to work, or attend full-time school, during the day and return in the evening.

Drug Addiction Treatment

Drug addicts found guilty of an offence punishable by imprisonment may be sentenced to a drug addiction treatment centre under the Drug Addiction Treatment Centres Ordinance. They can be detained from two to 12 months, depending on their progress. In-centre treatment is followed by 12 months of statutory after-care supervision.

Male drug addicts are treated at the Hei Ling Chau Addiction Treatment Centre, while female adult addicts receive treatment at the Tai Lam Centre for Women and the young are detained at the Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution.

The drug addiction treatment programme aims to detoxify, restore physical health and, through the application of therapeutic and rehabilitative treatment, wean addicts from their dependence on drugs.

Assistance is also given to addiction treatment centre inmates with post-release employment and accommodation. Temporary accommodation is available at New Life House, a halfway house for those in need of such support immediately after release.

Young Offender Assessment Panel

The Young Offender Assessment Panel, comprising staff from the Correctional Services and Social Welfare Departments, was established in April 1987 to provide magistrates with recommendations on the most appropriate programmes of rehabilitation for young offenders between 14 and 25 years-of-age. The service provided by the panel is available to juvenile courts and certain magistracies.

Education and Vocational Training

Offenders under the age of 21 attend educational and vocational training classes, conducted by qualified teachers and instructors.

For educational classes, textbooks compiled by the department are used to provide inmates with suitable and practical learning material matching their maturity in personality growth and development.

Adult offenders attend evening classes, on a voluntary basis, run by part-time teachers recruited by the department. Self-study packages and external correspondence courses are also available for those who are interested.

Both young and adult offenders are encouraged to take part in public examinations, organised by the City and Guilds of London Institute, Pitman Examinations Institute,

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