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 Study on Persons with
Disabilities and Chronic Illness conducted by the Census
and Statistics Department in 2000, there were 344,000
persons with disabilities and 882,700 persons with chronic
illness, representing 5% and 13% of the total population
of Hong Kong (6,800,000). The estimated populations
of different disability groups were: 103,500 persons
with physical handicap, 73,900 persons with visual
impairment, 69,800 persons with hearing impairment,
18,500 persons with speech impairment, 50,500 persons
with mental illness, 3,000 persons with autism and
74,500 persons with mental handicap. (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 2007-08, the total budget reached HK$2.8 billion.
As at December 2006, 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) |
2976 |
44 |
1468 |
Mentally Handicapped Persons
(Hostel for Severely MH Persons, Hostel for
Moderately MH Persons, Small Group Home for Mildly
MH Children, Supported Hostel) |
5328 |
107 |
3697 |
Physically Handicapped
Persons
(Hostel for Severely PH Persons, Supported
Housing, Supported Hostel) |
485 |
10 |
349 |
Visually Impaired Persons
(Care and Attention Home for Aged Blind Persons,
Supported Hostel) |
775 |
12 |
146 |
Severely Disabled Persons
(Care and Attention Home) |
705 |
15 |
377 |
Day Services |
Day Activity Centre for
Mentally Handicapped Persons |
1425 |
43 |
781 |
Day Activity Centre Extended
Care Programme |
130 |
16 |
NA |
| Home-Based Training and Support Service
for Persons with Mental Handicap |
-- |
20 |
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 Rehabilitation
Day Service for Ex-mentally Ill Persons |
-- |
5 |
NA |
Community Rehabilitation
Day Service for Persons with Physical Handicap |
-- |
1 |
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) |
-- |
69 |
NA |
Pre-school Services |
Special Child Care Centre |
1449 |
31 |
737 |
Integrated Programme in
Child Care Centre |
1926 |
210 |
1127 |
Early Education and Training
Centre |
2039 |
33 |
1623 |
Occasional Child Care Service
for Disabled Children
District-based Speech Therapy Service |
44
-- |
21
8 |
NA
NA |
Employment Services |
Sheltered Workshop |
5243 |
36 |
2384 |
Supported Employment Service |
1650 |
43 |
NA |
Integrated Vocational Rehabilitation
Service Centre |
3146 |
19 |
NA |
Work Extension Programme |
210 |
14 |
NA |
On the Job Training Programme
for People with Disabilities |
-- |
14 |
NA |
Sunnyway ¡V On the Job Training
Programme for Young People with Disabilities |
-- |
19 |
NA |
¡§Enhancing Employment for
People with Disabilities through Small Enterprise¡¨
Project (Rehabilitation Social Enterprises) |
-- |
38 |
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¡¨ was
formally adopted by UN General Assembly in December 2006
and was open for signature by member states in March 2007.
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, and Asian Federation of the Mentally
Retarded.? 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
2007 version) |