Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges

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Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges Recent
Welfare Services Development
Presented by Mrs Eliza Leung, J.P.Deputy
Director of Social Welfare (Services) e-mail
dds_at_swd.gov.hk 8 March 2002
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Content

• Major Challenges Ahead
• Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges
• Recent Welfare Services Development
• Way Forward

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Major Challenges Ahead

• Socio-economic changes
• Negative equity of property, income disparity
• Rising unemployment, job instability
• Social problems-weakened family solidarity
• Single parents
• Domestic violence
• Abuse suicide
• Youth at risk
• Elders in need of care

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Marriage Rate
Major Challenges Ahead
Source Hong Kong Annual/Monthly Digest of
Statistics, CSD
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Divorce Rate
Major Challenges Ahead
No. of divorce decrees General divorce rate (No.
of divorcee decrees per 1000 population aged 15
and over)
Source Hong Kong Annual/Monthly Digest of
Statistics, CSD
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Single Parents on CSSA
Major Challenges Ahead
(11.9 of all CSSA cases)
(6.4 of all CSSA cases)
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Child Abuse
Major Challenges Ahead
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Battered Spouse
Major Challenges Ahead
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Suicide
Major Challenges Ahead
Source of information Coroners Reports 2001
figures are preliminary there may be minor
adjustments in the formal Coroners Report to be
published in mid of 2002.
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Youth at Risk
Major Challenges Ahead

• No. of young people (age below 16) reported of
  substance abuse
• full-year 1st half
• 1999 242 108
• 2000 614 ( ? 154 ) 265 ( ? 145 )
• 2001 N.A. 347 ( ? 31 )

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Major Challenges Ahead
Youth at Risk (contd)

• No. of young people (age below 16) arrested due
  to criminal offence
• 1999 5,486
• 2000 6,299 ( ? 15 )
• 2001 5,909 ( ? 6 )
• estimated 18 of Form I encountered problems
  during development
• estimated 15,000 young people loave the street at
  night

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Ageing Population
Major Challenges Ahead
Source Hong Kong Population Projections 2000 -
2029, Census and Statistics Department
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Positioning SWD forGreater Challenges
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Objectives
Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges

• To position the Department to meet new challenges
  in the planning of social welfare services
• To increase our responsiveness to users' needs
• To enhance efficiency and productivity

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Key DriversMeeting Changing Needs in Social
Welfare
Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges

• District Level
• Changing roles and functions of the Regional
  Offices
• District as focal point in planning and delivery
  of welfare services in face of growing demand for
  a better and more co-ordinated planning strategy
  and greater integration of service delivered in
  districts
• Emphasis on enhanced outreaching services as
  reflected in the 2000 Policy Address and 2001
  Budget Speech

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Key Drivers (contd)
Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges

• District Level (contd)
• Increasing emphasis on close consultation between
  Government departments and the District Councils
• Increasing demand for inter-sectoral
  collaboration at both policy and implementation
  level

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Key Drivers (contd)
Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges

• HQs Level
• Growing demand for more strategic and
  evidence-based planning, service review and
  development of new approaches and methods to cope
  with rapid social changes
• Subvention reformLump Sum Grant and Service
  performance monitoring

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Key Drivers (contd)
Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges

• HQs Level (contd)
• Emergence of new demands
• Information technology
• Human resources management
• Planning and research

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Two Strands of ChangesChanges at District Level
Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges

• Eliminate 5 ROs
• Maintain 13 DOs (DSWO upgraded to PSWO level) and
  enhance them to deal with
• planning of welfare services on a district basis
• collaborate with DCs, other departments and local
  organisations on implementation of welfare
  policies
• co-ordinate with NGO service providers to meet
  local welfare needs
• establish proactive outreaching network
• administer centralised operational units

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A typical DSWO set-up
Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges
DSWO (PSWO)
ADSWO (SSWO) (1-3)
SSWO
SSSO
Regional Specialised Professional Teams of FCPSU
and CCSU / COVS /SCNAMO (SWOs)
Social Security Field Units (SSOIs)
Planning and Co-ordinating Team (PCT) (SWO
ASWO)
District Secretary (EOII)
Departmental Services Units
Family Support Resource Centre (FSRC) Family
Support Networking Team (FSNT) in CC / ECC (SWO /
ASWO/ SWA/ SWW/ WW)
District Registry
A total of 7 SSSOs to oversee FUs in 13
Districts
Clerical Support
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Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges
Two Strands of ChangesChanges at HQs Level

• Re-organise Subventions, Finance and Project
  Planning Branches into two Branches of Finance
  and Service Performance Monitoring
• Strengthen Service Branches to focus on service
  rationalisation and setting service
  standards/benchmarks
• Establish new set-ups on HRM and Planning
  Research

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Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges
Changes at At HQs Level (contd)

• Merge all licensing functions under a new
  Licensing Office
• LORCHE
• CCCAI
• Drugs Treatment Centres
• Develop professional service specialty in
  domestic violence
• Set up a small Corporate Affairs Office

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Re-organised Structure
Positioning SWD for Greater Challenges
DSW
DD(A)
DD(S)

• Each branch headed or to be headed by either
• AD or PSWO/CSWO or PEO
• Finance
• Service Performance
• Monitoring / Project
• Management
• HRM
• IST
• Social Security
• General Administration

• Each branch headed by either AD or CCP or CSWO
• Elderly
• Family Child Welfare
• Rehab Medical Social
• Service
• Youth Corrections
• Licensing Office
• Specialty Services
• - Clinical Psychology
• - Domestic Violence

• Corporate Affairs Office (CAO)
• Strategic Planning
• Research Statistics
• IPRU
• Customer Services
• (external)

13 DSWOs (PSWO)
SSWOs
SSSOs
ADSWOs
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Recent WelfareServices Development
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Enhancing Care for Elders with Emphasis on Ageing
in Place

• Develop integrated care facilities for elders.
• From 2001/02 to 2002/03 Around 16 integrated
  services projects will be launched
• Including 4 District Elderly Community Centre
  (DECC) (??????) and 4 Neighbourhood Elderly
  Centre (NEC) (??????).
• Flexible use of resources by service
  re-engineering/ resource redeployment
• Provide One-stop services

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Enhancing Care for Elders with Emphasis on Ageing
in Place (contd)

• EHCCS (????????????)
• Introduce the new Enhanced Home and Community
  Care Service since March 2001
• Serving 1,453 elders in 18 districts (15 over
  planned volume of 1,260).
• Will be further strengthened according to need
• Award Contract of RCHE through Competitive
  Bidding
• 1st RCHE by this mode Caritas Evergeen Home at
  Sai Ying Pun Community Complex.
• Achieving efficiency gain of over 20.

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Fostering Integration of the Disabled into the
Community

• Promotion of employment opportunities.
• On-the-job Training Programme for People with
  disabilities (benefiting 1080 persons in three
  years)
• 50 million to assist NGOs setting up small
  business to employ people with disabilities

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Fostering Integration of the Disabled into the
Community (contd)

• Strengthening of community support service (30
  mil. additional annually recurrent expenditure)
• Financial support to 38 self-help groups
• Funding 24 NGOs to provide parent resource
  centres, social and recreational centres
• A 28 million 3-year programme to provide day
  care, occasional day care, respite care to help
  families look after the disabled
• Setting up of a 50 million Hong Kong Paralympian
  Fund to help disabled athletes pursue excellence

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Helping the Young People

• fully implement one school social worker per
  secondary school in 2000/01 academic year
• implement Understanding Adolescent Programme
  (UAP) in 150 secondary schools in 2001/02
  academic year for early identification of
  development needs of students and early
  intervention
• collaborate with Education Department on
  parenting education and extend UAP to primary
  schools on a pilot basis, starting from 2001/02
  school year

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Helping the Young People (contd)

• expedite formation of Integrated Teams (from 34
  in 1999-2000 to 64 in 2001-02) with phased
  increase in funding of 70 million over three
  years from 2001-02
• strengthen 18 ITs to undertake outreaching work
  to young night drifters

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Helping the Young People (contd)

• increase number of Community Support Services
  Centre for young people cautioned under the
  Police Superintendent Discretion Scheme from two
  to five ( EK, WK and NTE) in September 2001
• strengthen referral mechanism between Department
  of Healths Student Health Service and NGOs
  youth services

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Helping the Young People (contd)

• enhance Polices School Liaison Teams to support
  schools with 33 additional police sergeant posts
• plan to set up the first all-night youth drop-in
  centre to support outreaching work to young night
  drifters

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Supporting the Families

• Review and Re-engineering of Family Services
• "Patch-work" introduction of new services or
  projects whenever a need arises, resulting in
  services duplication
• Changing family needs
• Remedial services absorbed most resources
• Important preventive services neglected

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• A three-tiered model to support families

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Supporting the Families (contd)
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ?

• Integrated Family Services Centres (????????) (15
  projects)

• A Continuum of Preventive, Supportive and
  Remedial Services

Treatmentoriented
Family Counselling Unit
Supporting families at risk (practical,
emotional training support)
Family Support Unit
Family Resource Unit
Open, developmental and preventive
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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Integrated Family Services Centres (contd)
• 15 two-year IFSC pilot projects through various
  approaches, commencing in April 2002
• 1 new purpose-designed and developed IFSC (Tung
  Chung Area 30 31)
• Transformation
• Merging
• Strategic alliance
• One project in each of 13 SWD district, plus one
  in Tung Chung and an additional one in Sham Shui
  Po to try out merging of co-located SWD service
  units
• Cost neutral

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Family Support Networking Teams (???????) (14
  teams)
• Early Identification and timely intervention of
  family problem
• Outreaching and networking services for
  vulnerable families
• Referral to appropriate services
• Attached to Family Support and Resource Centres

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Family Support and Resource Centres
• (?????????) (20 centres)
• Re-engineering of 19 SWD Group Work Units (GWUs)
  in Community Centres which used to provide social
  and recreational services to general public
• Play the roles of Family Resource Unit and Family
  Support Unit under the IFSC model
• Focus on a variety of informative, tangible,
  supportive and brief counselling services to
  vulnerable families and groups
• support district-based service planning and
  delivery
• redeployment of resources within SWD

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Family Crisis Support Centre (????????)
• (1 centre)
• A time-out facility to help users under extreme
  stress or facing crisis
• A resource and early intervention point to tackle
  family tensions at early stage and prevent
  problems from deteriorating into tragedy

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Family Crisis Support Centre (contd)
• Service Provision and Delivery Model
• round-the-clock service for persons in crisis
• Integrative services including
• 24-hour hotline (18288)
• outreaching and crisis intervention
• short-term accommodation
• group programmes
• self-learning resources and facilities
• referrals
• training ex-residents as volunteers or peer
  counsellors
• community education programmes

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Development of a 4th Refuge for Women (??????)
• 40 residential places
• mens hotline
• counselling groups for batterers
• emergency fund
• family resource corner
• mutual help groups
• community education
• employment training

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Suicidal Crisis Centre (????????) (1 centre)
• a three-year pilot with a grant of 10.6M from
  the LF
• to be run by the Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong
• provide round-the-clock outreaching service,
  crisis intervention and intensive counselling to
  those who are in crisis situation and at high
  suicidal risk
• build up networks with related services and
  agencies in contact with those having suicidal
  intent or attempts in order to identify and reach
  the service targets as early as practicable

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Suicidal Crisis Centre (contd)
• Implementation by Three Phases
• networking and publicity of services in the first
  three months
• outreaching and counselling services from the
  fourth month
• full implementation starting from the seventh
  month onwards

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Live Life - Joint Project on Prevention of
  Elderly Suicide (???? ????????)
• Joint operation with Hong Kong Council of Social
  Service and the Hong Kong Psycho-geriatric
  Association since mid-2001
• funding support of 7.96M from the Hong Kong
  Jockey Club Charities Trust

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Live Life - Joint Project on Prevention of
  Elderly Suicide (contd)
• Three main components
• community education programmes
• a three-tier co-ordinated intervention model
  piloted in Sha Tin and Tai Po in Dec 2001
  (????????)
• hotline service
• volunteer visits
• counselling and psychiatric consultation
• an Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Prevention
  of Elderly Suicide to be staged in May 2003

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Enhanced roles of Departmental Clinical
  Psychologists
• Operation Silver Lining
• A proactive means through which CPs advocate
  positive thinking and quality-living through
  public education and media contacts to build up
  the societys resilience towards crises in life.
  
• A re-focusing on primary intervention
• Increased clinical consultation and training to
  support other service units
• Specialty development in psychotherapy for severe
  cases

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Supporting the Families (contd)

• Specialised and Co-ordinated Effort in Combating
  Violence
• Set up a dedicated team headed by a CSWO since
  September 2001
• Integrated approach to tackle violence problem
• Consolidating and developing expertise in
  handling abuse cases
• Service coverage
• Child abuse
• Elderly abuse
• Sexual violence
• Domestic violence

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Ending Exclusion Project (????)

• To assist CSSA single parent recipients with
  young children
• maximize their chances of participating in social
  and economic activities
• Help them raise their self-esteem and sense of
  worthiness, integrate into society and improve
  their living through employment

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Ending Exclusion Project (contd)

• Package of services
• Active Employment Assistance (AEA) Programme
• Special Job Attachment Programmes (SJAP)
• Intensive Employment Assistance Fund (IEAF)
• Help with child care
• After-school-care programme
• Enhanced Supportive Services
• Single-parent centres (5 centres)
• Improved work incentives
• Raise the level of disregarded earnings for
  single parent with young children from 1,805 to
  2,500

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Way Forward -Shared Responsibility

• The community can join the Government and the
  welfare sector in serving the needy through
  self-initiated mutual help projects
• To support and promote mutual concern and aid and
  community participation, the Chief Executive has
  announced the setting up of a Community
  Investment and Inclusion Fund with an initial
  grant of 300M
• The media has an important role to play

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