ENG-2016 — Page 218

11

Social Welfare

Services for Persons with Disabilities

To help persons with disabilities integrate into society and fully develop their capabilities, government departments and NGOs provide a variety of rehabilitation services to meet their different needs.

Children with Special Needs

At the year end, there were 1,980 integrated programme places in kindergarten-cum-child care centres; 1,799 places in special child care centres, including 110 residential places; and 3,124 places in early education and training centres for children with special needs. Small group homes provided 64 places for mildly mentally handicapped children who could not receive adequate care from their families.

Children with special needs who are on the waiting list of SWD-subvented pre-school rehabilitation services may apply for a means-tested Training Subsidy Programme to acquire self-financing training services provided by NGOs while awaiting the subvented services. The programme provided 1,422 training places in 2016.

Those who are on the waiting list may also apply for on-site pre-school rehabilitation service under a Pilot Scheme on On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services, launched through the Lotteries Fund in 2015. Inter-disciplinary service teams from 16 NGOS offer about 3,000 service places for children studying in over 480 participating kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres who are on the list. The scheme also provides professional advice to kindergarten teachers and child care workers at the participating kindergartens and centres to help them work with children with special needs, and renders support to parents in fostering a positive attitude and developing effective skills in raising their children with special needs.

Adults with Disabilities

In 2016, day activity centres offered 5,198 day training places for persons with intellectual disabilities. The department provided 1,633 supported employment places for persons with disabilities to work in open settings with support and assistance, 432 places under an On the Job Training Programme for People with Disabilities, and 311 places for young persons with disabilities or early signs of mental illness under the Sunnyway - On the Job Training Programme for Young People with Disabilities. There were 5,276 places available in sheltered workshops and 4,482 places in integrated vocational rehabilitation services centres for those not yet ready to compete for open employment. Integrated vocational training centres offered another 453 places.

By the year end, more than $104 million had been allocated to 30 NGOs under an Enhancing Employment of People with Disabilities Through Small Enterprise Project, enabling them to set up 110 small businesses providing about 807 job opportunities for persons with disabilities. In tandem, the Marketing Consultancy Office (Rehabilitation) helped NGOs set up those small businesses and promoted products and services provided by persons with disabilities under the brand, Let Them Shine.

172