Introduction
- The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS)
and the Hong Kong Joint Council for People with Disabilities
(the Joint Council, formerly known as the Joint Council
for the Physically and Mentally Disabled Hong Kong)
have maintained close partnership since 1960s, in
representing and coordinating more than 120 rehabilitation
agencies and self-help organizations of persons with
disabilities or parents. We cooperate with different
government departments and statutory bodies in the
planning and development of rehabilitation services,
and facilitate consultation and communication between
the Government and subvented agencies. We also
monitor, advocate for and promote the improvement of related
policies, legislation and service provisions, with
a view to protect the rights and welfare of persons
with disabilities.
- The work of rehabilitation means
for the overall well being of persons with disabilities.
HKCSS and the Joint Council are not only concerned with
the policies in social welfare and social security, but
also medical care, health, education, vocational
training, employment, housing, transport, built environment,
information technology, assistive devices, cultural
and recreational pursuits, sports and arts, public
education as well as legislation, so as to ensure
the equality and inclusion of persons with disabilities
and achieve the common mission of "equal opportunities
and full participation".
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Disabled
Population
-
According to the ¡§Special Topics Report No. 48:
Persons with Disabilities and Chronic Illness¡¨ published
by the Census and Statistics Department in 2009,
there were 438,300 persons with disabilities and
1,152,700 persons with chronic illness, representing
6.3% and 16.7% of the total population of Hong Kong
(6,940,000). The estimated populations of different
disability groups were: 187,800 persons with physical
handicap, 122,600 persons with visual impairment,
92,200 persons with hearing impairment, 28,400 persons
with speech impairment, 86,600 persons with mental
illness / mood disorder, 3,800 persons with autism,
77,000 persons with mental handicap, 9,900 persons
with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) and 5,500
persons with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD). (As the household survey was conducted
on a voluntary reporting basis, it was believed that
the populations of persons with mental handicap,
persons with mental illness and persons with autism
were inevitably underestimated.)
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Rehabilitation
Services
-
The rehabilitative welfare services in Hong Kong
are mainly provided by around 50 non-governmental
agencies and funded by the Social Welfare Department.
In 2009-10, the total budget reached HK$3.3 billion.
As at December 2008, the numbers of places, service
units and persons on waiting list were as follows:
Service Types |
Places |
Service Units |
Waiting
List |
Residential Services |
Ex-Mentally Ill Persons
(Half-way House, Long Stay Care Home, Supported
Hostel) |
2999 |
46 |
1306 |
Mentally Handicapped Persons
(Hostel for Severely MH Persons, Hostel for
Moderately MH Persons, Small Group Home for Mildly
MH Children, Supported Hostel) |
5443 |
112 |
4070 |
Physically Handicapped
Persons
(Hostel for Severely PH Persons, Supported
Housing, Supported Hostel) |
569 |
11 |
399 |
Visually Impaired Persons
(Care and Attention Home for Aged Blind Persons,
Supported Hostel) |
835 |
12 |
48 |
Severely Disabled Persons
(Care and Attention Home) |
765 |
16 |
364 |
Day Services |
Day Activity Centre for
Mentally Handicapped Persons |
4490 |
97 |
885 |
Day Activity Centre Extended
Care Programme |
120 |
15 |
NA |
| Home-Based Training and Support Service
for Persons with Mental Handicap |
-- |
16 |
NA |
Training and Activity Centre for Ex-mentally Ill Persons |
230 |
5 |
NA |
Community Mental Health
Link Service |
-- |
25 |
NA |
Community Mental Health
Care Service |
-- |
10 |
NA |
| Community Mental Health Intervention Project |
-- |
8 |
NA |
Community Rehabilitation
Day Service for Ex-mentally Ill Persons |
-- |
5 |
NA |
Community Rehabilitation
Day Service for Persons with Physical Handicap |
-- |
4 |
NA |
Social and Recreational
Centre for Various Disability Groups |
-- |
17 |
NA |
Parents / Relatives Resource
Centre |
-- |
6 |
NA |
| Community Rehabilitation Network for Persons
with Chronic Illness |
-- |
6 |
NA |
Support Services for People with Disabilities in the
Community
(Holiday Care Service, Family-based Respite Service,
Day Care Service for Severely Disabled Persons, Personal
Development Programme, Specialized Programmes for Persons
with Autism and Mentally Handicapped Persons with Challenging
Behaviors, Home Care Service, Home-based Rehabilitation
Training Service, Support Scheme for Newly Blind Persons) |
-- |
13 |
NA |
Pre-school Services |
Special Child Care Centre |
1544 |
33 |
600 |
Integrated Programme in
Child Care Centre |
1926 |
210 |
864 |
Early Education and Training
Centre |
2186 |
36 |
1597 |
| Occasional Child Care Service for Disabled
Children |
61 |
29 |
NA |
District-based Speech Therapy Service |
-- |
8 |
NA |
Employment Services |
Sheltered Workshop |
4853 |
35 |
2318 |
Supported Employment Service |
1655 |
43 |
NA |
Integrated Vocational Rehabilitation
Service Centre |
3675 |
20 |
NA |
Work Extension Programme |
195 |
13 |
NA |
On the Job Training Programme
for People with Disabilities |
-- |
14 |
NA |
Sunnyway ¡V On the Job Training
Programme for Young People with Disabilities |
-- |
16 |
NA |
¡§Enhancing Employment for
People with Disabilities through Small Enterprise¡¨
Project (Rehabilitation Social Enterprises) |
-- |
46 |
NA |
Integrated Vocational Training
Centre |
453 |
2 |
NA |
* NA = not applicable
Other service programmes relating to persons with disabilities
were:
Medical Care |
Hospital beds for mentally
ill persons and severely mentally handicapped persons,
psychiatric day hospitals and outpatient clinics, community
psychiatric nursing service, etc |
Health |
Child assessment centres |
Education |
Special education and integrated
education |
Vocational Training |
Vocational assessment service,
skills centres |
Employment |
Selective placement service |
Transport |
Rehabus service |
Financial Assistance |
Comprehensive Social Security
Assistance and Disability Allowance Schemes |
Apart from the above, the Hong Kong SAR
Government has started to provide funding support for about
50 self-help organizations in recent years so as to facilitate
people with disabilities to integrate into the society. A
$50 million ¡§Hong Kong Paralympians Fund¡¨ was also set up
with the aims to provide financial assistance to athletes
with disabilities for their pursuit of sporting career and
excellence in international events, to develop target sports,
as well as to offer subsistence grant for athletes with disabilities
and employment facilitating grant for those retired.
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Future Trends and Challenges
Nowadays, the international disability endeavors have proceeded
into a new era, which are orientated to building an ¡§inclusive,
barrier-free and rights based society¡¨ and moved away from
the traditional ¡§medical and welfare approach¡¨.
Under the repeated advocacy of global community, the ¡§International
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities¡¨ (Convention)
was formally adopted by UN General Assembly in December 2006
and was open for signature by member states in March 2007.
The Convention has become legally binding after 20 countries
have ratified it and it has entered into force internationally
in May 2008. The People¡¦s Republic of China deposited
its Instrument of Ratification of the Convention with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations on 1 August 2008
and became the 33rd ratification of the convention. China
including the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative
Region of China has entered into force on August 31, 2008.
As at May 2009, 139 countries have signed the Convention
and 57 countries have ratified it.
Compared with other Asia-Pacific countries, Hong Kong has
been on the forefront in the provision of rehabilitation
policies and services. Yet, there are still rooms for
improvement in the quality of life and the social status
of our people with disabilities when making reference to
the western counterparts. To truly achieve equal opportunities
and full participation of the disability community, we have
to make special efforts in the following key areas:
- Further development of community support services and
exploration of alternative service modes for people with
disabilities;
- Equal employment opportunity for people with disabilities
in public and private corporate sectors, in particular
advocating for the introduction of an employment quota
system in Hong Kong;
- Continued improvement in the accessibility of public
transport, built environment and IT-related facilities
in order to make Hong Kong a truly barrier-free city;
- Full implementation of integrated education so as to
make more children with disabilities able to receive education
in mainstream schools with necessary support;
- Promotion of arts pursuit in the disability community
and adequate support for the training and development of
artists with disabilities;
- Substained organization of public education activities
in order to establish positive image of people with disabilities,
eliminate public misunderstanding and prejudices, and promote
social inclusion.
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International
Linkages
HKCSS and the Joint Council have been affiliated to Rehabilitation
International, Asian and Pacific Disability Forum, International
Abilympics Federation, Asian Federation of the Mentally Retarded
and Workability International. We have also maintained
close linkage with UN Social and Economic Commission for
Asia and the Pacific, International Labour Office, and World
Health Organizations.
In future, we will continue to work in partnership with
international rehabilitation community and our counterparts
in the Asian and Pacific region, including the China Disabled
Persons Federation, to strive for greater development of
the disability endeavors at large.
(June
2009 version) |