Family Services

OBJECTIVES

4.1

The objectives of family services are to preserve and strengthen the family as a unit, develop caring interpersonal relationships, enable individuals and family members to prevent and deal with personal and family problems, and provide suitable services to meet needs that cannot be adequately met from within the family.

APPROACH

4.2

SWD adopts a three-pronged approach to provide a continuum of services to support families, namely:

• At the primary level, prevention of problems and crises: publicity, public education, empowerment and early identification;
• At the secondary level, a range of support services : from developmental programmes to intensive counselling;
• At the tertiary level, specialised services and crisis intervention against specific problems such as domestic violence and suicide, etc.

SERVICE PROVISION AND STATISTICS UNDER THE THREE-PRONGED APPROACH

4.3

The service provision and statistics under the three-pronged approach are as follows:

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PERIOD

Strengthened Supportive Services for Individuals and Families in Need

4.4

To further enhance the support and services provided for individuals and families in need, and to alleviate the workload of social workers, four new IFSCs were set up in districts with higher service demand in 2011-12 and 2012-13, thereby increasing the number of IFSCs from 61 to 65. The three new IFSCs operated by NGOs in Sham Shui Po District, Kwun Tong District and Yuen Long District commenced operation in December 2011, January 2013 and January 2013 respectively. The remaining one operated by SWD in Kowloon City and Yau Tsim Mong District also commenced operation in February 2013. The locations of the new IFSCs were decided having regard to the social indicators and service demand of individual districts such as the number of new cases handled by each IFSC, the projected growth and profile of the population.

Strengthened Services and Support for Victims of Domestic Violence

Family and Child Protective Services Units

4.5

SWD has 11 FCPSUs across the territory as specialised units to assist families with problems of child abuse and spouse/cohabitant battering in order to restore the normal functioning of these families and to safeguard the interests of children affected by custody/guardianship disputes.

Victim Support Programme for Victims of Family Violence

4.6

The Victim Support Programme for Victims of Family Violence (VSP) operated by Po Leung Kuk aims to enhance support services to victims of domestic violence, including those undergoing the judicial process. Through the VSP, the victims will be provided with information on the legal proceedings and community support services (such as legal aid service, accommodation, medical treatment and child care support, etc.). 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 to resume normal life as early as possible. The VSP served 613 and 661 victims and their family members respectively in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Refuge Centres for Women

4.7

The refuge centres for women provide temporary accommodation service for women with or without children who are having serious personal or family problems or in danger of domestic violence. At present, there are five refuge centres with 260 places. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, the average utilisation rates of the five refuge centres were 79.1% and 85.6% respectively.

Family Crisis Support Centre

4.8

The Family Crisis Support Centre (FCSC) operated by Caritas - Hong Kong, aims at tackling family crisis at an early stage by providing a package of integrated and easily accessible services to assist individuals and families in crisis or distress. Services provided include a 24-hour hotline, emergency intervention with short-term accommodation and other support services. Besides, FCSC has established an effective referral network and collaboration with other service organisations and professionals in serving individuals/families in crisis. As at 31 March 2013, 95% of the service users have indicated positive response in overcoming the immediate crisis upon leaving the FCSC.

Multi-purpose Crisis Intervention and Support Centre

4.9

The CEASE Crisis Centre (the 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 outreaching service for victims of sexual violence and elder abuse after 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 2011-12 and 2012-13, the Centre provided services to a total of 239 victims of sexual violence.

Suicide Crisis Intervention Centre

4.10

The Suicide Crisis Intervention Centre (SCIC), operated by The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong (SBHK), provides round-the-clock outreaching, crisis intervention/intensive counselling to persons in crisis situation and at high/moderate suicidal risks. Apart from the core crisis intervention service, the SCIC also works with SBHK's Life Education Centre and Hotline Centre and other related organisations to render preventive and supportive services to persons affected by suicidal behaviour (including family members and friends). In view of the ever-increasing use of information technology, the SCIC conducts regular blog searching for early identification of Internet users with suicidal tendency, and provides web-engagement service such as setting up forum, email-box, chat-room and Internet resource corner to reach out to Internet users with suicidal ideation, ventilate their emotion, give emotional support, promote positive life attitude and provide related social service to the users and to convey meaningful and positive life attitude.

Services for Batterers

4.11

In reducing the risk of domestic violence, it is necessary to break the cycle of violence. Services for batterers have been another important work focus of SWD since 2008. The Batterer Intervention Programme (BIP) in group format has formally become an integrated component of the counselling service for batterers provided by the 11 FCPSUs apart from individual counselling and treatment. SWD has also started a trial project on the development of a BIP for female batterers since 2010. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, a total of 145 batterers participated in BIP.

4.12

Separately, since 2008, the Anti-violence Programme (AVP) has also been introduced for batterers who are required by the courts under the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance (Cap. 189) to participate in the psycho-educational programme to change their abusive attitudes and behaviours. The AVP is suitable for different types of abusers. NGOs have been engaged in delivering the programme.

Prevention and Handling of Elder Abuse

4.13

In 2001, SWD set up a multi-disciplinary Working Group on Elder Abuse (WGEA) to examine jointly the phenomenon of elder abuse in Hong Kong and provide advice on strategies and ways of handling elder Abuse. WGEA focuses on enhancing community awareness on elder abuse, including the awareness of frontline personnel of concerned disciplines. With the service infrastructure established, the work focus has evolved from a remedial-oriented approach to a more preventive approach such as identifying risk factors of elder abuse cases and formulating preventive measures. In order to sustain the momentum in public education, and in view of the cultural background of the society, empowerment of elders as part of our preventive strategies will continue to be SWD’s major focus. Furthermore, attention will be placed on identifying high risk groups for more targeted intervention.

Training Programme Relevant to Domestic Violence

4.14

In 2011-12 and 2012-13, SWD continued to provide training on core themes of domestic violence with contents including understanding and handling child abuse, spouse/cohabitant battering, elder abuse and sexual violence, etc. A total of 14 000 social workers and other professionals participated in the training courses organised at the central level and by District Social Welfare Offices.

Publicity and Community Education

Publicity Campaign on "Strengthening Families and Combating Violence"

4.15

To enhance the public awareness of the importance of family solidarity and to encourage early help seeking for prevention of domestic violence and family tragedy, SWD continued to launch the Publicity Campaign on "Strengthening Families and Combating Violence". In 2011-12, a series of short videos on promotion of positive parenting and prevention of domestic violence was produced and broadcast through RoadShow and YouTube. And, to prevent filicide-suicide, a set of TV/radio APIs and poster was produced and broadcast/posted on TV, radio, Internet and mass transportation systems. Furthermore, a leaflet was produced to encourage women with unplanned pregnancy to seek help when encountering difficulty. In 2012-13, a short-film cum story board creation competition was launched on the Internet to promote the prevention of child sexual abuse. Also, a set of poster and leaflet was produced to promote joint parental responsibility of divorced parents. The poster was posted at public venues while the leaflet was distributed to needy parents.

Other Supportive Services

Child Fatality Review

4.16

Following the successful experience of the Pilot Project on Child Fatality Review and the positive responses received by it, the standing Child Fatality Review Panel with members appointed by the Director of Social Welfare commenced its work in June 2011. The Review Panel has completed the review of the child death cases that occurred in 2008 and 2009, and would share its review findings with the public through its first biennial report to be released in the first half of 2013.

Enhanced Hotline Services

4.17

SWD started procuring the service of the 1823 Call Centre in February 2008 to handle enquiries relating to social security matters so that social workers of the SWD Hotline, 2343 2255, can be more readily available to handle calls requiring counselling. Moreover, upon the commencement of service of the NGO-operated Hotline and Outreaching Service Team (HOST) in October 2008, the SWD Hotline started operating on a 24-hour basis with SWD's social workers handling calls during normal office hours, while calls received outside normal office hours are handled by social workers of HOST. HOST also provides outreaching service to specific groups of needy persons in case of emergency warranting immediate intervention by social workers. In 2012-13, 1823 Call Centre handled 23 224 calls, while social workers of SWD Hotline handled 47 260 calls with 2 386 calls requiring counselling service whereas social workers of HOST handled 11 787 calls with 8 725 calls requiring counselling service.

Short-term Food Assistance

4.18

Five short-term food assistance service projects run by NGOs started operation in February 2009 to provide a normally six-week food assistance to individuals/families who have difficulties coping with their daily food expenditure. The target service users are individuals or families who have proven difficulties coping with daily food expenditure, including those among the unemployed, low-income earners, new arrivals, street sleepers, as well as individuals or families encountering sudden change and facing immediate financial hardship, etc.; and the ‘N have-nots’, including those who are living in rented rooms/bedspaces/roof-tops, do not have separate electricity accounts, are not recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance/Disability Allowance/Old Age Allowance. The operating NGOs assess the eligibility and needs of target service users as well as the level and type of assistance to be provided so as to ensure that the food provided is proper and adequate to meet the basic needs of the service users. In October 2011, SWD enhanced the service by adding the provision of food and hot meal coupons which can be redeemed at designated food stalls, supermarkets and restaurants. This was in addition to the usual provision of dry rations (such as canned food) normally offered for people to tide over urgent and short-term needs. As at 31 March 2013, a total of 115 436 persons have received food assistance from the service projects.

Services for Street Sleepers

4.19

The three SWD-subvented NGO-operated Integrated Services Teams for Street Sleepers provide a range of integrated services to help street sleepers give up street sleeping and re-integrate into the community. Services provided include counselling, after care service, outreaching visits, group activities, emergency placement/short-term hostel placement, employment guidance, personal care, emergency financial assistance as well as service referrals.

Compassionate Rehousing

4.20

Compassionate Rehousing (CR) is a form of housing assistance provided for individuals and families who have genuine imminent and long-term housing problem which cannot be solved by themselves. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, 2 488 and 2 171 cases were recommended by SWD to Housing Department for CR respectively.

Charitable Trust Funds

4.21

SWD administers four charitable trust funds, namely Tang Shiu Kin and Ho Tim Charitable Fund, Li Po Chun Charitable Trust Fund, Brewin Trust Fund and 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 to overcome their temporary financial hardship due to special and emergency situations. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, 2 184 payments (amounted to $8.40 million) and 2 174 payments (amounted to $8.52 million) were made to needy individuals or families respectively.