Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ9: Emergency service for families facing crisis
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Fernando Cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 1):
Question:
The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has indicated that a 24-hour emergency
service is currently available to families facing crisis. Where outreaching
service by a social worker outside office hours is required, the staff of SWD
and those manning the telephone hotline can enlist support from SWD's social
workers on the respective Child Abuse, Battered Spouse or Psychiatric Emergency
duty rosters. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the details of the current operation of the above hotline (such as the
number of social workers manning the hotline and their roster arrangements) and
how it ensures that help-seekers are given assistance as soon as possible; and
(b) the commencement date of the 24-hour emergency service and the number of
cases handled by the authorities in each month of the past five years, with a
breakdown by client's sex, age, district of residence and case type?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Social Welfare Department (SWD) currently provides two hotlines, namely
the SWD Hotline (2343 2255) and the 24-hour Family Crisis Hotline (18288) (FC
Hotline) which is operated by the Caritas and fully subsidised by the SWD. The
hotlines provide an important contact point for the public, including those in
distress due to various reasons, and enable them to obtain all sorts of
information on welfare services and seek help for their need.
The SWD Hotline is manned by nine social workers from 9am to 10pm from Monday to
Saturday, and 1pm to 10pm on Sunday and public holidays. There are three to six
social workers on each shift to answer incoming calls. If calls are busy and
unanswered, callers may leave their messages on the answering machine and the
social workers on duty will call them back within 30 minutes. For calls outside
the aforesaid operating hours, callers may choose to transfer their calls to the
FC Hotline (18288).
The FC Hotline, a 24-hour hotline fully subsidised by the SWD, mainly provides
callers with emotional support. To operate the FC Hotline, staff are flexibly
deployed having regard to the actual circumstances and the number of calls
received in the past. The FC Hotline is manned by one to two social workers in
the daytime and two to four after midnight. If calls are busy and unanswered,
callers may leave their messages on the answering machine and the social workers
on duty will call them back within 30 minutes.
In case where a social worker is required for outreaching service outside office
hours, the social workers manning the SWD Hotline or FC Hotline and the police
will, if situation warrants, contact SWD's dedicated after office hours
outreaching teams on child abuse, spouse battering and psychiatric emergency
through mobile phone or pager.
(b) The SWD hotline services started in 1980 whereas the FC Hotline came into
service in November 2001. With effect from January 2003, all calls made to the
SWD Hotline outside the operating hours could be transferred to the FC Hotline
and be answered by the social workers on duty.
The After Office Hours Child Abuse Outreaching Team of the SWD started its
service in 1991 and the service has been extended to battered spouse since 2000.
The Psychiatric Emergency Outreaching Team of the SWD started its service in
1989.
The numbers of cases handled by the two outreaching teams of SWD between 2001
and 2005 are shown in the table. However, the SWD does not have the breakdown by
client's sex, age, district of residence and case nature.
Ends/Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:19
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Table to LCQ9