Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ9: Family Crisis Support Centre Hotline

    Following is a question by the Dr Hon Fernando Cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao (in the absence of Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food), in the Legislative Council today (March 22):

Question:

     It has been reported that during mid-night, the Family Crisis Support Centre (FCSC) Hotline, which is fully funded by the Social Welfare Department, is so busy that as high as 76% of the incoming calls have to be transferred to the voice mailbox.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  of the respective numbers of voice mail received, calls answered immediately and calls transferred to voice mail but no messages were left at the FCSC Hotline in each of the last three years;

(b)  whether it has immediately improved the situation in which calls to the above Hotline were unanswered; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c)  how it can ensure that callers to the Hotline who face the problems of family violence or child abuse will receive immediate response and support?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a)  The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has since 2001 commissioned the Caritas-Hong Kong to operate the first Family Crisis Support Centre (FCSC) in Hong Kong to provide a range of services to individuals and families in distress, including a 24-hour FCSC Hotline to provide emotional support to those in need.  The FCSC Hotline started to collect statistics about the voice mails since June 2004 and information requested is as follows:


                              Year
                   2004(June to
                     December)        2005
Number of            5 310           13 437
incoming calls
immediately
answered by
social workers  
         
Incoming calls       9 354           14 930
with messages  
left    
       
Incoming calls       3 947            5 510
 with no
message left              

     In 2005, the FCSC Hotline handled over 8 500 help-seeking calls between 12.00 midnight to 8.00am, of which about 82% were immediately answered by social workers whereas the remaining 18% were answered as soon as possible.

(b)  The SWD has since 2002 granted an additional annual subvention of $1 million to the FCSC to strengthen its Hotline manpower at night time.  The FCSC has also adjusted its manpower to man the Hotline during night sessions, having regard to its operation experience and the number of calls received in the past.  For example, the FCSC usually has 3 to 4 designated social workers to man the Hotline from 12.00 midnight to 2.00am and 2 to 3 social workers from 2.00am to 6.00am.  In addition, there is another on-duty social worker who will also handle incoming calls where necessary.  If the lines are busy, callers may leave their messages in the voice mailbox.  The FCSC has a designated staff to listen to the messages left in the voice mailbox once every 20 minutes.  

     In 2005, the FCSC handled a total of over 8 500 help-seeking calls made between 12.00 midnight and 8.00am, or an average of 2.9 calls per hour.  The existing manpower should be able to meet the service needs.

(c)  In cases where individuals call the FCSC Hotline for problems such as family violence or child abuse, the social workers of the FCSC will make an assessment and refer them promptly to the Family and Child Protective Services Unit of the SWD or the Integrated Family Service Centre for follow-up having regard to individual circumstances.  During non-office hours, social workers of the FCSC Hotline will contact the SWD's after office hours outreaching teams for child abuse and battered spouse cases through mobile phone or pager, in order to seek support services from the social workers on duty.  In addition, the FCSC has set up a "referral line" to facilitate the provision of immediate referral and support services by the Police and relevant service units to individuals or families (including those faced with problems such as family violence or child abuse) in need of a place for time-out.

 

Ends/Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:21

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