District Highlights 2020-21

The Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing District Social Welfare Office (District Social Welfare Office) adopted “Instill Hope．Action Overcome．To love and care in Tsuen Kwai Tsing” as the work strategy in 2020-21. By pooling the efforts from different stakeholders in the districts, the spirit of fostering hope and overcoming adversity together, along with community inclusiveness and care was promoted in Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing.

Instilling Hope

Since early 2020, Hong Kong has been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. People of different classes have been facing various kinds of pressure in life. Young people and their families might have encountered difficulties and challenges relating to family relationships, studies, finance and employment, etc. The Local Committee on Services for Young People (LCSYP) and the District Co-ordinating Committee on Family and Child Welfare Services (DCCFCW) of Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing jointly implemented the “Project A.I. – Accommodation．Inclusion” to attend to the young people’s needs in relation to their studies, family relationships and personal development while showing concern for their family conditions, and to render continuous support to frontline social workers and related professionals in facing new personal and practical challenges. Through collaborating with the youth and family service units in the districts, the Project arranged visits to secondary schools and tertiary institutions to gain a comprehensive understanding of the needs of individual students from school social workers and guidance teachers and formulate an outreach strategy to support young people and their families. Meanwhile, the youth service units delivered continuous support to students of secondary schools, their families and teachers in the community through a series of groups and workshops. In addition, various seminars and workshops were held to support the physical and mental needs and the professional development of frontline social workers, with a view to enhancing their effective handling in the face of new challenges that young people and their families encounter. On the other hand, the DCCFCW also launched a project, namely “Add-oil, Family!”. Through a diversified platform, the project helped individuals and families handle tense family relationships and relieve pressure on parenting, and mobilised community resources to assist individuals and families that face life stresses, including the low-income group, new arrivals and ethnic minorities, etc. Apart from implementing various programmes, including stress management groups for single parents, family outdoor activities, parenting and parent-child relationship enhancement groups/workshops, etc., the Project also supported grassroots families being affected by the epidemic through the scheme “Friendly Meals”, with about 800 families benefitted from the distribution of meal vouchers.

Action Overcome

The ongoing epidemic has been putting pressure on the overall social climate, changing daily routines and affecting interpersonal relationships. All sectors of the society have been experiencing unprecedented situations and challenges, and some even find it hard to adjust. With the uncertainties brought by the epidemic, community members, including social workers and other helping professionals, may feel the lack of strength inevitably. Besides, the need for epidemic control has also further distanced us from one another. In view of this, the District Social Welfare Office, in collaboration with service units providing elderly, family and child welfare, rehabilitation and youth services, etc. and relevant stakeholders in the districts, formed the “Tsuen Kwai Tsing Joint Committee” in 2020 and launched the mega district campaign “Action Overcome”. By adopting “Early Identification” and “Promotion of Social Resilience” as the 2 different dimensions of intervention strategies to act in concert with the new normal for epidemic control, the campaign responded quickly to the community’s mental health needs. It actively promoted physical and mental health, attended to emotional needs, established a mutual support network and supported people to move forward with positive thinking in the community and in the sector. The campaign included the establishment of an “early identification” mechanism and the organisation of online training seminars and workshops on “Handling Emotions at Critical Points” and “Surviving under the Epidemic” for the helping professionals, attracting about 1 000 participants. In addition, the design of “Tsuen Kwai Tsing Buddies for Fighting the Epidemic” and the video production of a series of positive life stories “Tsuen Kwai Tsing Beautiful Moments” were widely publicised in the community and the videos were successfully broadcast on more than 700 different platforms. The campaign helped people to understand that there is always a way out in difficult times, promoted the spirit of embracing hope in adversity and exerted the strength of peer support.

Love and Care in Tsuen Kwai Tsing

The District Social Welfare Office endeavoured to strengthen collaboration among various stakeholders to build a caring and inclusive community and to meet the welfare needs of the community through the concerted efforts of multi-disciplines across services and sectors. 24 service units of the Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing District Co-ordinating Committee on Elderly Services and the Co-ordinating Committee on Rehabilitation Services jointly and continuously implemented the “Tsuen Kwai Tsing Walk Together with Carers” Project. Through a diversified and cross-services approach, the Project gathered community resources and strength and brought about synergistic effect for the early identification of and support to carers of the elderly, PWDs, ex-mentally ill persons and children with special needs in the districts. In view of the epidemic, a total of over 40 000 mask covers with friendly tips were produced and distributed to shops that carers may visit in their daily life, such as clinics, rehab shops, salons and markets. Meanwhile, a total of 16 000 folding fans were produced and distributed in the community with a view to disseminating information on social services to hidden carers so as to encourage them to seek assistance when necessary. Besides, to better meet the needs of different carers and to facilitate the dissemination of information, digital leaflets and QR codes were in use. The Project also recruited over 1 200 carers who received the services to be “Peer-to-peer Ambassadors” to encourage the needy carers to approach social service units through sharing their personal experience. Moreover, to enhance the trainees’ sensitivity to the elders, PWDs, ex-mentally ill persons and children with special needs and their carers for the identification of the hidden needy and families, a series of training videos for property management staff was produced. Considering the possible adjustment difficulties graduates of special schools and their carers may encounter, various promotional activities on services provided by different rehabilitation service units were organised in special schools in the districts. Meanwhile, a referral mechanism was established to bridge up suitable support services for students and their carers before graduation. Lastly, to provide diversified stress-relieving and emotional support to the carers, the Project identified suitable spaces to set up “Good-to-relax” rest stations at different service points in the community. In view of the epidemic, online “Good-to-talk” carer rest stations were specially set up to meet the needs of carers. As at the end of March 2021, over 200 sessions of “Good-to-relax” and “Good-to-talk” were organised. The Project successfully built a caring community with mutual help and also provided continuous support to the needy carers.