Support services provided by the Social Welfare Department

1. Apart from FCPSUs, the 65 Integrated Family Service Centres (IFSCs) and two Integrated Services Centres (ISCs) over the territory operated by SWD or subvented NGOs also provide a spectrum of preventive, supportive and remedial services to needy individuals and families in need to strengthen family’s capability in coping with challenges in life and in the family setting.
2. SWD continues to launch the "Family Support Programme" (FSP) to proactively contact and provide services for hard-to-reach individuals or families in need, including those prone to domestic violence, mental illness and the social isolation but unwilling to seek help, through more intensive support and outreaching services. Between April 2010 and December 2017, FSP successfully engaged a total of 108 230 individuals/families in IFSC/ISC/FCPSU services or other social services. A total of 4 565 volunteers were recruited as Family Support Persons in 65 IFSCs, two ISCs and 11 FCPSUs under FSP as at end-December 2017.
3. The number of newly reported spouse/cohabitant battering cases and child abuse cases whose victims were female in the past few years were as follows –

Newly reported spouse/cohabitant battering cases with female victims



Newly reported child abuse cases with female victims


4. The specialised FCPSUs of SWD handle the majority of the child abuse and spouse/cohabitant battering cases. They provide the needy with integrated services including outreaching, crisis intervention, casework and group work services, as well as statutory protection of children. Other support services such as financial assistance, legal aid, psychological assessment and treatment, housing assistance, and child care services, etc. are also arranged in collaboration with relevant Government bureaux/departments and NGOs as appropriate.
5. Apart from expanding its professional units, SWD has also introduced improvement and new measures in combating domestic violence. SWD has allocated additional resources to strengthen social work support for the refuge centres for women (refuge centres) during and after office hours since October 2005. SWD has also provided additional places in refuge centres and Family Crisis Support Centre (FCSC), as well as additional manpower for refuge centres and CEASE Crisis Centre to strengthen child care support service for the residents and children temporarily staying at these centres. Currently, there are 5 refuge centres providing a total of 268 places for the victims of domestic violence, in addition to 50 places and 80 places provided by FCSC and CEASE Crisis Centre respectively.
6. SWD has continued to implement the Victim Support Programme for Victims of Family Violence which provides support services to victims of domestic violence, particularly those undergoing the judicial process. In addition, the “Batterer Intervention Programme” (BIP) as mentioned in the previous report has become a regular service since 2008. On top of the 267 batterers served in the pilot project, another 683 batterers have participated in the BIP up till December 2017. SWD has continued to run the anti-violence programme (AVP) which seeks to change the abusers’ attitude and behaviour. With the enactment of Domestic Violence (Amendment) Ordinance 2009, AVP has been extended to cover same-sex cohabitants since January 2010.
7. Since not all batterers are suitable or willing to join BIP or AVP, SWD launched a new service, called “Educational Programme on Stopping Domestic Violence” (EPSDV) in October 2013 which aims at providing an alternative for batterers. EPSDV is a brief programme for helping batterers to acquire basic knowledge and skills in anger management and tackling couple conflicts. Up to December 2017, 753 batterers have participated in the EPSDV.
8. As reported in the previous report, SWD has established the Child Fatality Review Panel which aims to identify patterns and trends for formulation of prevention strategies and promoting multi-disciplinary and inter-agency cooperation in the prevention of child death. Since its formation in June 2011, the Review Panel has completed the review of child death cases from 2008 to 2013 and published its First Report, Second Report and Third Report in May 2013, July 2015 and August 2017 respectively.