Welfare
Services
In Hong Kong, a wide range of welfare services for victims
of child abuse, spouse battering and sexual violence are
provided by the Social Welfare Department (SWD), subsidized
and non-subsidized non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Family and Child Protective
Services Units
 The
Family and Child Protective Services Units (FCPSUs)
of SWD are specialized units manned by experienced social
workers. They provide a co-ordinated package of one-stop
services including outreaching, social investigation,
crisis intervention, statutory protection, intensive
individual and group treatment to victims of child abuse
and spouse battering, batterers and their family members.
Referrals for various services e.g. legal aid, school
placement, residential placement etc. will also be made
whenever necessary.
Direct application or referral by any organization
to FCPSUs for services relating to child abuse and spouse
battering cases is accepted.
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Central Western, Southern and Islands)
Address: Rm. 229, 2/F, North Point Government Offices,
333 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong.
Tel. no.: 2231 5858
Fax no.: 2164 1771
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Eastern and Wanchai)
Address: Rm. 229, 2/F, North Point Government Offices,
333 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong.
Tel. no.: 2231 5859
Fax no.: 2164 1771
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Kwun Tong)
Address: Rm. 502, 5/F, Nan Fung Commercial Centre, 19
Lam Lok Street, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon.
Tel. no.: 2707 7681
Fax no.: 2717 7453
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung)
Address : 3/F, Wong Tai Sin Community Centre, 104 Ching
Tak Street, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon.
Tel. no.: 3188 3563
Fax no.: 3421 2535
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Sham Shui Po)
Address: G/F, Cheung Sha Wan
Community Centre, 55 Fat Tseung Street, Cheung Sha Wan,
Kowloon.
Tel. no.: 2247 5373
Fax no.: 2729 6613
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Kowloon City and Yau Tsim Mong)
Address: G/F, Cheung Sha Wan Community Centre, 55 Fat
Tseung Street, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon.
Tel. no.: 3583 3254
Fax no.: 3583 3137
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Shatin)
Address: Rm. 716, 7/F, Shatin Government Offices, 1
Sheung Wo Che Road, Shatin, New Territories.
Tel. no.: 2158 6680
Fax no.: 2681 2557
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Tai Po and North)
Address: Rm. 716, 7/F, Shatin Government Offices, 1 Sheung Wo Che Road, Shatin, New Territories.
Tel. no.: 2158 6696
Fax no.: 3104 1357
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing)
Address: 21/F, Tsuen Wan Government Offices, 38 Sai
Lau Kok Road, Tsuen Wan, New Territories.
Tel. no.: 2940 7350
Fax no.: 2940 6421
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Tuen Mun)
Address: 4/F., On Ting/Yau Oi Community Centre, On Ting
Estate, Tuen Mun, New Territories.
Tel. no.: 2618 5710
Fax no.: 2618 7976
Family and Child Protective
Services Unit (Yuen Long)
Address: G/Fl., Wah Long House, Tin Wah Estate, Tin
Shui Wai, New Territories.
Tel. no.: 2445 4224
Fax no.: 2445 9077
Integrated Family Service
Centres/Integrated Services Centres
While social workers of FCPSUs will take up child abuse
and spouse battering cases known to SWD, Integrated
Family Service Centres (IFSC)/Integrated Services Centres
(ISC) run by NGOs also provide counselling and tangible
assistance to help victims of child abuse, spouse battering
and their family members.
For victims of sexual violence, social workers of IFSCs/ISCs
from both SWD and NGOs provide counselling services,
crisis intervention, therapeutic and supportive groups,
escort for report to the Police, if needed, and arrange
referrals for other services including clinical psychological
service, financial assistance, legal service,
schooling arrangement, job placement, housing assistance (e.g. compassionate
rehousing, conditional tenancy) and other
community resources.
Direct application or referral by any organization
to IFSCs/ISCs is accepted. A list of IFSCs/ISCc can
be downloaded
here.
Medical Social Services
Child abuse, spouse battering and sexual violence cases
may come to the notice of the medical social workers
in public hospitals and specialist out-patient clinics
through hospital personnel, police or other organizations,
and through direct approach by patients or their families.
The medical social workers also provide counselling,
tangible services and arrange referrals for rehabilitation,
community services and so forth to help the victims
of child abuse, spouse battering and sexual violence
cases and their family members.
A list of Medical Social Services Units can be downloaded
here.
Clinical Psychological Service
 The
clinical psychologists of the four Clinical Psychology
Units of SWD provide assessment and treatment services
to abusers and victims of domestic and other sexual
violence if they present symptoms of psychopathology.
In addition, the clinical psychologists also provide
consultation on the management of victims and abusers
to social workers of SWD. Persons in need of clinical
psychological service should approach other SWD service
units for referral.
Assistance from clinical psychologists in the management
of domestic and sexual violence cases are also available
from some Integrated Family Services Centres and Integrated
Services Centres of NGOs and major general hospitals
of the Hospital Authority. The former mainly accept
referrals from Integrated Family Services Centres and
Integrated Services Centres, or in some instances other
service units, of designated NGOs. For the latter, referrals
are normally accepted from doctors or psychiatrists
only. Unless they are known cases to the psychiatric
services of the Hospital Authority, cases are usually
followed up when they are receiving in-patient treatment
only.
Witness Support Programme
In strengthening support to the abused children serving
as witnesses in criminal proceedings, support persons
would be arranged through the Witness Support Programme,
set up jointly by SWD and the Police, to accompany the
abused children who have to testify in the court proceedings
through a live television link system.
The Witness Support Programme is also available to
the mentally incapacitated persons.
Requests for arrangement of support persons under the
Witness Support Programme are made to SWD by the Police.
Information Package for Child Witness
Booklet for Child Witness aged 5 to 9 (Acrobat
file)
Booklet for Child Witness aged 10 to 18 (Acrobat
file)
Booklet for Parent and Carer of Child Witness (Acrobat
file)
Refuge Centres for Women
Four refuge centers (addresses to be kept confidential)
provide temporary accommodation and supportive services
to women and their children who are facing domestic
violence or family crisis. They are Wai On Home for
Women, Harmony House, Serene Court and Sunrise Court.
Refuge centres accept admission on a 24-hour basis.
Direct application or referral by any organization
to refuge centres is accepted.
Family Crisis Support
Centre
The Family Crisis Support Centre (FCSC) operated by
the Caritas-Hong Kong provides time-out facility and
an integrated package of services in helping people
under extreme stress or facing crisis to manage their
emotions and seek positive solution to family problems,
including domestic violence.
Direct application or referral by any organization
to FCSC is accepted (hotline: 18 288 [24 hours] website:
http://fcsc.caritas.org.hk)
.
Pilot Projects of Batterer
Intervention Programme
| In order to develop a systematic and localized
group intervention model to meet the needs of batterers
of domestic violence, two pilot projects of Batterer
InterventionProgramme developed by the Hong Kong
Family Welfare Society and Social Welfare Department
have been launched in March 2006. These two projects
will be completed by March of 2008. |
 |
Hotline Service
Hotline service is available to provide information
on social welfare services and immediate support to
victims of domestic and sexual violence (including child
abuse). The hotlines which are operated by social workers
or volunteers, or through the interactive voice processing
system (IVPS) include:
 SWD
Hotline : 2343 2255
(Information on welfare services in the form of recorded
voice message or facsimile transmission can be obtained
on a 24-hour basis. During specific period i.e. Monday
to Saturday: 9:00am - 10:00pm; Sunday and public holiday:
1:00pm - 10:00pm, social workers are available to answer
enquiries and handle emergency cases. Outside the duty
hours of social workers, callers can either leave their
message on the recording machine for social workers
to call back or make use of the in-built call transfer
system (Press "0") to transfer their calls
directly to the 24-hour hotline operated by Family Crisis
Support Centre.)
Family Crisis Support Centre
: 18 288
[24 hours]
Mutual Aid – HKCSS Helpline
(through IVPS) : 1878668
[24 hours]
With effect from 27 January 2003, there has been improved
interfacing among the hotline services of the Social
Welfare Department, Family Crisis Support Centre and
Suicide Crisis Intervention Centre through a call transfer
system to provide emergency outreaching and crisis intervention
outside the operating hours of Departmental Hotline
Service of SWD ( i.e. Monday to Saturday: 10:00p.m.
to 9:00a.m. the next day; Sunday and public holiday:
9:00a.m. to 1:00p.m. and 10:00p.m. to 9:00a.m. the next
day) to needy individuals/families on a 24-hour basis
throughout the year.
There are hotlines developed specifically to serve
different target groups or handle different problems.
These hotlines which are operated by social workers
or volunteers include:
Men’s Hotline
Caritas-Man's
Hotline : 2649 1100
[Wednesday: 2:00 pm-5:00 pm]
Harmony House Third
Path Man's Services : 2295 1386
[Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 2:00 pm-10:00 pm]
Po Leung Kuk Men's
Hotline: 2890 1830
[24 Hours]
Victims of Spouse Battering
Harmony House 24
hour Women
Hotline:
2522 0434
[24 hours]
HK Association for the Survivors
of Women Abuse (Kwan Fook) Hotline
service : 3145 0600
[Monday-Thursday: 10:00 am- 1:00
pm, 2:00 pm-5:00 pm]
Victims of Sexual Violence
CEASE Crisis
Centre 24-hour Hotline: 18281
Website: http://ceasecrisis.tungwahcsd.org
RainLily: 2375 5322
[Monday-Friday: 9:00 am-10:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am-1:00 pm]
Child Abuse
Against Child Abuse : 2755
1122
[Monday-Friday: 9:00 am-5:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am-1:00 pm]
website: http://www.aca.org.hk
End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation
: 2889 9933
[Monday-Friday: 12:00 noon -8:00 pm]
website: http://www.ecsaf.org
Suicide Prevention
The Samaritan Befrienders
Hong Kong: 2389 2222
[24 hours]
website: http://www.sbhk.org.hk
Suicide Prevention Services:
2382 0000
[24 hours]
website: http://www.sps.org.hk
The Samaritan Multi-Lingual
Suicide Prevention Service: 2896 0000
[24 hours]
Crisis Intervention Team
on Family Violence (CIT)
With grant from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities
Trust, Harmony House has set up the crisis intervention
team in A&E Department of TMH, UCH and TKOH to render
immediate crisis intervention and support to battered
spouse cases. Tel No. : 2959 3657 (Tuen Mun Hospital)
Tel No. : 2310 0126 (Tseung Kwan O Hospital & United
Christian Hospital). Social worker on duty : Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday : 7:00 pm to
12:00 mid-night.
Criminal and Law Enforcement
Injuries Compensation Scheme
The Scheme offers financial assistance to innocent
victims (or to their dependants in cases of death) who
are injured as a result of a crime of violence, or by
a law enforcement officer using a weapon in the execution
of his duty.
Where the victim and the offender were living
together as members of the same family at the time of
the incident, assistance will only be payable under
special circumstances (tel. no.: 2892 5220).
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