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SOCIAL WELFARE

The Young Offender Assessment Panel, jointly operated by the SWD and the Correctional Services Department, provides courts with co-ordinated professional views on sentencing options for 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 and reintegration. In 1999, 797 ex-prisoners were placed under supervision. One subvented organisation also provides hostel and supportive services for ex-prisoners.

Family and Child Welfare

The SWD and NGOs 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 732 family caseworkers, the centres handled a total of 80 000 cases during the year.

To help strengthen the families, about 5 000 programmes such as talks, small group activities and mass media programmes were conducted by 79 family life education workers from the department and NGOs.

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. 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 63 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. All of them operate on a 24-hour basis.

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 NGOs.

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. A wide range of child welfare services is provided. The adoption service arranges permanent homes for children in need. The child protective service provides early intervention and intensive casework service for abused children. The child custody service provides social investigation and casework service for the children who are affected by the separation or divorce of their parents. Residential child care services are provided for children and young people who need care or protection because of

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