ENG-1997 — Page 234

SOCIAL WELFARE

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the scheme. Eight residential homes with a total capacity of 612 places provide educational, pre-vocational and character training to juvenile offenders and youth at risk.

The Young Offender Assessment Panel, jointly operated by the SWD and the Correctional Services Department, provides magistrates with a co-ordinated view on the most appropriate treatment for convicted young offenders aged 14 to under 25.

The Post-Release Supervision of Prisoners Scheme, also jointly operated by the SWD and the Correctional Services Department, assists discharged prisoners in their rehabilitation. In 1997, 513 ex-prisoners were placed under supervision. One subvented organisation also provides hostel, employment, casework and volunteer services to ex-offenders.

Family and Child Welfare

The SWD and non-governmental organisations provide a variety of family and child welfare services. The overall objective is to preserve and strengthen the family as a unit through assisting individuals and families to identify and prevent or solve their problems.

Hong Kong has 65 family services centres. Services provided include counselling, referrals for child care, elderly and rehabilitation services, job placement, financial and housing assistance. With an establishment of 706 family caseworkers at the end of 1997, the centres handled a total of 75 500 cases during the year.

To help strengthen the families, about 4 814 programmes such as talks, small group activities and mass media programmes were conducted by 79 family life education workers of the department and non-governmental organisations.

Support to families in need of assistance in home management, child care, and care for the elderly and disabled, is provided by 52 family aide workers and 124 home help teams. A family care demonstration and resource centre provides training in practical home management and caring skills, as well as resource materials for clients and social workers. The 19 family activity and resource centres set up in government-run community centres provide a drop-in service, mutual support and early identification and referral of cases in need of intensive casework service.

The clinical psychological service, with a staff of 49 clinical psychologists, provides in-depth assessment and treatment to people suffering from psychological and behavioural problems. It also provides support to caseworkers and residential homes. Three refuges for women provide 120 short-term residential places for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence and for girls at risk.

The problem of street-sleeping is tackled through the department's outreaching teams and family services centres, plus temporary shelters, urban hostels, and day relief centres operated by non-governmental organisations. There is also a multi- disciplinary outreaching team specifically serving elderly street sleepers on experimental basis.

The department operates a telephone hotline service which provides information on welfare services to callers with pre-recorded messages or through facsimile transmission 24 hours a day. Social workers are on duty to provide immediate counselling and advice to customers in need, especially to those in crisis situations.