Family and Child Protective Services

Family and Child Protective Services Units

SWD operates 11 Family and Child Protective Services Units (FCPSUs) across the territory as specialised units to assist families with problems of child abuse and spouse/cohabitant battering. They aim to restore the normal functioning of these families and safeguard the interests of children affected by custody/guardianship disputes.

Victim Support Programme for Victims of Family Violence

The Victim Support Programme for Victims of Family Violence (VSP) operated by Po Leung Kuk aims to enhance support services for victims of domestic violence, including those undergoing judicial proceedings. Through the VSP, the victims will be provided with information on legal proceedings and community support services (such as legal aid service, accommodation, medical treatment and child care support). They will also be provided with emotional support and company while going through the judicial process to alleviate their fear and sense of helplessness. Through close collaboration with case workers, the VSP empowers and assists the victims in resuming their normal life as early as possible. The VSP served 710 victims and their family members in 2019-20.

Refuge Centres for Women

The refuge centres for women provide temporary accommodation service for women with or without children who are facing domestic violence or having serious personal problems or family crisis. At present, there are 5 refuge centres providing a total of 268 places. In 2019-20, the average utilisation rates of the 5 refuge centres were 60.8%.

Multi-purpose Crisis Intervention and Support Centre (Cease Crisis Centre)

The CEASE Crisis Centre, operated by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, aims to provide comprehensive support to victims of sexual violence and individuals or families facing domestic violence or in crisis, and to link them with appropriate health care and social services units as soon as possible for necessary protection and services. Services provided include a 24-hour hotline and crisis intervention/immediate outreach service for victims of sexual violence and elder abuse after the office hours of SWD. Besides, the Centre provides short-term accommodation for victims who are temporarily not suitable to return home or individuals/families in crisis. In 2019- 20, the Centre provided services to a total of 584 victims of sexual violence.

Services for Batterers

To reduce the risk of domestic violence, it is necessary to break the cycle of violence. Services for batterers have become another important work focus of SWD since 2008. The Batterer Intervention Programme (BIP) in group format has formally become an important component of the counselling service for batterers provided by the 11 FCPSUs, in addition to individual counselling and therapy. SWD has also provided BIP for female batterers since 2010. In 2019-20, a total of 54 batterers participated in the BIP.

To tie in with the implementation of the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance 2010, SWD launched the Anti-violence Programme (AVP) in August 2008, which was conducted in 12 to 14 individual or group sessions, aiming at helping different types of abusers (including those involved in abusing their spouses, partners, children or other family members) to stop such behaviour. As at the end of March 2020, there were 7 referrals from the court. Among them, one was later withdrawn by the applicant and one was passed back to the court for disposal as the abuser refused to attend the programme.

As not every abuser is required to attend the AVP as directed by the court, or willing to join the BIP for a longer duration, SWD thus launched the Educational Programme on Stopping Domestic Violence (EPSDV) in October 2013. The programme provides 6-hour individual or group sessions for batterers or those who pose a risk of perpetrating intimate partner violence to master basic and practical knowledge and skills to manage their anger, resolve conflicts with partners and avoid the outbreak of violence, while helping participants to deal with the crisis caused by violence and improve partner relationships. The programme has been enhanced and renamed to “The Support Programme for Enhancing Peaceable Relationship” (SPeaR) since 1 October 2018 to provide support services as well to children who have witnessed or been exposed to domestic violence, victims of domestic violence and those involved in conflicts with their partners. In 2019-20, a total of 411 people participated in the programme.

Protecting Children from Maltreatment

To further enhance the collaboration among different professionals and those who are in close contact with children because of work and handling mechanism for suspected child maltreatment cases, SWD has, in collaboration with relevant bureaux, departments and NGOs, reviewed the “Procedural Guide for Handling Child Abuse Cases” and the revised version “Protecting Children from Maltreatment - Procedural Guide for Multi-disciplinary Co-operation” (Revised 2020) came into effect on 1 April 2020. The Guide has strengthened the indicators for identifying children suspected to have been maltreated and reference materials on risk assessment, enhanced the mechanism of reporting suspected child maltreatment cases and provided guidance on handling child protection cases involving parents with drug abuse problem.

Specialised Co-parenting Support Centres

To strengthen the support for separated/divorced families, SWD has set up 5 Specialised Co-parenting Support Centres (SCSCs), operated by NGOs in each of the 5 regions in Hong Kong (namely Hong Kong Island, Kowloon East, Kowloon West, New Territories East and New Territories West), since October 2019 to provide one-stop co-parenting support services for separated/divorcing/divorced parents and their children, including co-parenting counselling service and parenting co-ordination service, children contact service, structured co-parenting groups or programmes and child-focused counselling, groups or programmes. As at 31 March 2020, the 5 SCSCs provided support services for a total of 257 new cases.

Training Programme Relevant to Domestic Violence

In 2019-20, SWD continued to provide training on core themes of domestic violence, such as understanding and handling child abuse, spouse/cohabitant battering, elder abuse and sexual violence. Social workers and other professionals participated in the training courses organised at the central level and by district social welfare offices, with a total of around 11 000 attendances.

Publicity and Community Education
Publicity Campaign on Strengthening Families and Combating Violence

In 2019-20, SWD produced a short video on the serious impact of witnessing parental conflict on the child development to help the public understand the impact of family conflict on children and to promote co-parenting amongst separated or divorced parents for the best interests of their children. In order to strengthen the promotion of messages on child protection and prevention of domestic violence among EMs, Announcements of Public Interest in 5 EM languages have been arranged for broadcast through radio channels starting from June 2018. In addition, district-based public education programmes and activities on combating domestic violence were organised by the District Social Welfare Offices of SWD. SWD will continue to promote messages on combating domestic violence and child protection to the public through various social media and publicity platforms.

Other Support Services
Child Fatality Review

The standing Child Fatality Review Panel has commenced its work since June 2011 and has completed the review of the child death cases that occurred in 2014 and 2015. The review findings were shared with the public through its fourth biennial report released in May 2019.

Charitable Trust Funds

SWD administers 4 charitable trust funds, namely the Tang Shiu Kin and Ho Tim Charitable Fund, the Li Po Chun Charitable Trust Fund, the Brewin Trust Fund and the Kwan Fong Trust Fund for the Needy. The purpose of the funds is to provide one-off and short-term financial assistance to individuals and families facing temporary financial hardship arising from special and emergency situations. In 2019-20, 1 120 applications for payments (involving $5.79 million) were handled by SWD to provide assistance to needy individuals or families.