The overall objective of the family and child welfare programme is to preserve and strengthen the family as a unit through assisting individuals and families to identify and prevent or deal with their problems, and to provide for needs which cannot be met from within the family. A comprehensive network of family and child welfare services is provided by the SWD and NGOs.

Services for Families

The department adopts a three-pronged approach to provide a continuum of services to support families. At the primary level, prevention of problems and crises is effected through publicity, education, empowerment and early identification.

    The publicity campaign on Empowering Families to Face Challenges was completed in July. To sustain the momentum of these publicity activities, another publicity campaign on Strengthening Families and Combating Violence began in August. The campaign aims to enhance public awareness of the need to strengthen families, seek early professional assistance and prevent violence.

    To help strengthen families, about 4 000 programmes — including talks, small group activities and mass media programmes — were conducted by 69 family life education workers from the SWD and NGOs during the year. Five two-year Family Education pilot projects provided by the SWD and NGOs on a regional basis were to facilitate early action in preventing family tragedies and in identifying family problems. Twenty Family Support and Resource Centres set up in community centres provide drop-in service, mutual support and early identification and referral of cases in need of intensive casework service. These services are supplemented by the SWD's hotline service which provides 24-hour information on social welfare services. A Family Helpline manned by social workers provides individuals and families facing a crisis with immediate telephone counselling.

    At the secondary level, a range of support services, from developmental programmes to intensive counselling, are provided through a network of 66 Family Services Centres and Integrated Family Service Centres, with a staff of 744 social workers. These provided counselling, referral for child care, elder and rehabilitation services, and financial and housing assistance for a total of 91 255 cases during the year.

    Five Single Parent Centres provide a package of dedicated services to strengthen the single parents' social network of support and improve their self-reliance and capability for employment. Eight Post-migration Centres provide a package of dedicated services to enhance the social functioning and self-sufficiency of new arrivals from the Mainland so as to facilitate their early integration into the community.

    At the tertiary level, specialised services and crisis intervention are provided through five Family and Child Protective Services Units, a Family Crisis Support Centre, a Suicide Crisis Intervention Centre and two projects on prevention of elder abuse and another one on elderly suicide, respectively. In addition, four Refuge Centres provide 162 short-term residential places for battered spouses and their children who are victims of domestic violence, accepting admission on a 24-hour basis.

    The problem of street-sleeping is tackled through a continuum of outreaching, counselling and referral services provided by the SWD's outreaching teams and family services centres, together with temporary shelters, urban hostels and day relief centres operated by NGOs. The 'Three-year Action Plan to Help Street Sleepers', implemented in April 2001 and targeting street sleepers who were younger and in good health, assisted over 380 street sleepers to live off the street since its operation.

Services for Children

The department provides a wide range of child welfare services. The adoption service arranges permanent homes for children in need. The mediation service which is provided under the Pilot Scheme on Family Mediation launched by the Judiciary assists divorcing couples in reaching mutually acceptable agreements concerning their children and other arrangements. Residential child care services are provided for children and young people who need care or protection because of family crises or their behavioural or emotional problems. At year-end, there were 670 places in foster care service, 952 places in small group homes and 1 417 places in children's homes, boys' and girls' homes and hostels.

    Child care centres provide day care services for children under the age of six. At year-end, there were 29 063 aided day nursery places, 1 113 aided day creche places, 723 occasional child care places and 1 610 extended hour places provided in 273 centres. All child care centres have to register under the Child Care Services Ordinance and Regulations. A fee assistance scheme helps low-income families with social needs to pay fees for child care centres.

    In July, an inter-bureau/departmental working group completed public consultation on harmonisation of pre-primary services currently provided by child care centres and kindergartens. The views received were examined and implementation details were being worked out together with the Education and Manpower Bureau. Another working group was working on the review of the Adoption Ordinance with a view to improving local adoption services and give effect in Hong Kong to The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

    The Administration is putting in place the necessary arrangements to launch the legal representation scheme for children and juveniles involved in care or protection proceedings.