ENG-2012 — Page 220

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Social Welfare

Professional Back-up and Support Services

Support services provided by clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists are available to persons with disabilities in rehabilitation day centres and hostels. Speech therapists are available to children attending pre-school rehabilitation centres.

A range of community support services is available for persons with disabilities and their families/carers including ex-mentally ill persons, living in the community. These include district support centres for persons with disabilities, community rehabilitation day centres, integrated community centres for mental wellness, day care services for persons with severe disabilities, specialised home-based training and support services; community-based support projects and rehabilitation services for persons with visceral disability or chronic illnesses.

Residential respite services for persons with disabilities, occasional child care service for pre- schoolers with disabilities and parents/relatives resource centres are also available. In addition, there are social and recreational centres for persons with disabilities to encourage them to participate in community leisure activities.

Financial Assistance for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Patients

At year-end, 890 applications were approved for eligible individuals and/or their families, bringing the cumulative payments from the SARS trust fund since its establishment in 2003 to about $204 million.

Medical Social Services

Medical social workers are stationed in public hospitals and some specialist clinics to provide assistance and services for patients and/or their families with welfare needs, helping them recover and reintegrate into society. Medical social workers dealt with about 173,340 cases in 2012.

Services for Offenders

The SWD performs a number of statutory functions and provides community-based and residential services to help people who have committed crimes reintegrate into the community and become law-abiding citizens.

The probation service helped 5,290 offenders during the year and arrangements were made for 2,539 people placed on CSOs to perform unpaid community work under supervision. Probation officers assess and report to the courts on an offender's suitability for a probation order and/or a CSO, and supervise those under the orders. The officers also prepare reports on long-term prisoners and petitioners being considered for early release.

A pilot project begun in 2009 at two probation offices to provide more focused, structured and intensive treatment programmes for convicted young drug offenders aged below 21 was found on evaluation in May 2012 to be more effective in bringing about successful withdrawal from prohibited drugs post-probation and those on probation were less prone to reconviction, in particular for drug-related offences within the probation period.

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