ENG-2020 — Page 303

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Public Order

Drug Addiction Treatment

Convicted drug addicts undergo a compulsory treatment programme as an alternative to imprisonment. Young addicts aged between 14 and 20 are accommodated separately from the adults. They receive two to 12 months of on-site treatment followed by one year of statutory supervision.

Health Care

All correctional institutions have on-site hospitals with qualified personnel stationed to provide basic health care. Persons in custody who need specialist treatment are referred to visiting specialists or public hospitals.

Education

Offenders under 21 receive education and assistance to take local and overseas accredited public examinations, while adults are also encouraged to take self-study courses or tertiary-level distance learning programmes offered by accredited institutions. Those pursuing further studies may apply for financial help from the Prisoners' Education Trust Fund and other education subsidy schemes.

Vocational Training

The CSD provides eligible adult offenders with the option of taking market-oriented vocational training courses that issue accredited and recognised qualifications. Young offenders under 21 may take half-day vocational training programmes. Sixteen correctional facilities offered over 40 full-time and part-time courses in 2020.

Correctional Services Industries

The department arranges useful work for adult offenders as required by law, to help them develop good working habits and acquire work skills to facilitate their reintegration into society.

In 2020, a daily average of 3,480 persons in custody were engaged in productive work, providing government departments and subvented bodies with goods and services that included office furniture, uniforms, leather products, hospital linen, personal protective equipment (including filter masks), fibreglass products, traffic signs, precast concrete products, metal products, laundry services, book binding, printing work, file jackets and envelopes. The market value of these goods and services was $497 million in 2020.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in early 2020 the CSD converted the existing workshop at Lo Wu Correctional Institution to produce filter masks, operating round the clock. Since February, over 2,500 off-duty and retired correctional officers have volunteered to help mask production at Lo Wu Correctional Institution. Mask production output rose from an average of 1.1 million per month in the past to a peak of about 5 million in June. The CSD also established additional production lines in other correctional institutions for small-size masks and other personal protective equipment such as protective gowns and caps.

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