ENG-1999 — Page 243

SOCIAL WELFARE

were 33 teams serving priority areas with a higher youth population and juvenile crime rate.

Integrated teams for young people began operation in 1994. They provide children and youth centre service, outreaching social work service, school social work service and, where possible, family life education under one management structure. At the end of 1999, 32 teams were operating.

Services provided by the eight uniformed organisations and the Hong Kong Award for Young People Scheme offer young people opportunities to join organised activities with progressive training programmes for the development of character and leadership and to help them become responsible members of the community. In 1999, 156 000 young people benefited from the service.

The SWD and NGOs also provide other welfare services to attend to the special needs of those young people who are at risk. The Community Support Service Scheme, comprising two projects operated by NGOs and one by the SWD, was set up in 1994 to assist those young people who have broken the law or are at risk. At the end of the year, the two NGOs projects served 1 018 cases and the SWD project 1 273 cases. The Against Substance Abuse Scheme provides prevention programmes to occasional substance-abusers under the age of 21 with the ultimate goal of helping them develop healthy lifestyles and discourage them from resorting to drugs in tackling their problems. By year's end, 1 215 young people had benefited.

An SWD subvented youth hotline also helps young people at risk by offering timely intervention through counselling. In 1999, the hotline handled 44 315 calls.

As endorsed by the Committee on Services for Youth at Risk, a one-year, small- scale implementation project, in respect of Understanding the Adolescent Project, has been carried out in Sha Tin since May. The objectives of the project are to test out the logistics of operating the project, refine the primary preventive programmes and to evaluate the programmes effectiveness. The committee also examined the Report on the Evaluation Study on the Youth Mobile Team Service for Youth Night Drifters at end-1999 and proposed a long-term policy on services for young night drifters.

The district fight crime committee and the local committee on services for young people of five districts with more numerous arrests of young offenders have also been asked to respectively map out the district strategy, co-ordinate efforts; and enhance service interfacing among related services to tackle the issue of geographical impact on juvenile delinquency.

To enhance the preventive career guidance for potential Secondary 3 school leavers, a pilot project for enhancement of career education in schools was started in September in five secondary schools with more potential Secondary 3 school leavers. In response to a criminal case involving juvenile gangs, the committee set up a sub- group to conduct an in-depth study on the background of those juveniles involved and the factors leading to the deviant behaviour.

Rehabilitation of People with Disabilities

Hong Kong has about 417 000 individuals with disabilities. The rehabilitation services provided by government departments and NGOs aim to integrate people with disabilities into the community and help them fully develop their capabilities. These services are co-ordinated by the Commissioner for Rehabilitation, who

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