ENG-2006 — Page 245

Social Welfare 201

former mental patients and discharged chronic mental patients, there were 1 509 places in halfway houses and 1 407 in long stay care homes.

Professional Back-up and Support Services

Back-up services provided by clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists are available to people with disabilities in rehabilitation day centres and hostels. Speech therapy service is also available to children attending pre-school rehabilitation centres. In addition, there are other support services, including home- based training and support services for people with mental handicaps or physical disabilities, community mental health care services and after-care service for those discharged from halfway houses, and rehabilitation services for people with visceral disability or chronic illnesses. Residential respite service for adults with disabilities, occasional child care service for pre-schoolers with disabilities and six parents' resource centres are also available. There were five social clubs for ex-mentally ill people and 17 social and recreational centres for people with other disabilities to encourage them to participate in community leisure activities.

Medical Social Services

Medical social workers are stationed in public hospitals and some specialist clinics to help patients and their families with psychosocial problems. Such patients are given counselling, financial and other tangible assistance, and referral to rehabilitation and support services in the community to help them recover and reintegrate into society. During the year, medical social workers dealt with 167 185 such cases.

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Community Support Project provides early identification and intervention services to children and adolescents aged between six and 18 living in the community with early signs of emotional or mental health problems such as anxiety or depression. Set up in April, five project teams collaborated with the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry teams of the Hospital Authority to provide psychosocial educational programmes, consultation services, networking with community support services, as well as direct case intervention.

The SWD administers the trust fund for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The fund was established to provide special ex gratia relief payment or financial assistance for SARS patients or families affected by SARS. By year-end, 1 118 applications had been received relating to 320 deceased cases and 798 patients who had recovered from the disease or who were suspected of having it. Of these, 887 applications were approved, involving $135 million. Additional resources would be injected into the fund in January 2007 to provide continued support for SARS patients who are still dysfunctional.

Services for Offenders

Under related ordinances, the department discharges statutory functions and provides community-based and residential services to help people who have committed crimes to reintegrate into the community and become law-abiding citizens.