Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ10: Support to men distressed by domestic problems

Following is a question by the Hon Tsang Yok-sing and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 9):


Question:


At present, temporary accommodation service is not available to men who are distressed by family problems, including family violence. The Family Crisis Support Centre (FCSC) operated by Caritas-Hong Kong can arrange for them short-term accommodation for a limited period of two to three days. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:


(a) of the number of cases in which married men distressed by domestic problems sought assistance from the Social Welfare Department or subvented social service agencies over the past three years, with a breakdown of such cases by reasons for seeking assistance;


(b) whether it has assessed the possibility of strengthening the short-term accommodation service provided by the FCSC, including relaxation of the time restriction on stay; if it has, of the assessment results; and


(c) whether it will consider providing temporary accommodation service for men and assess the demand for such service?


Reply:


Madam President,


(a) The Administration is committed to providing services to married men distressed by family problems, including family violence. These services are delivered through the Integrated Family Service Centres operated by Social Welfare Department (SWD) or Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) over the territory, and SWD's Family and Child Protective Services Units. Social workers will provide appropriate services to these married men to meet their specific needs, including individual or marriage counselling, and various relevant activities and support groups, as well as a wide range of referral services. However, we do not have a breakdown of the number of cases of married men who sought assistance from these service agencies.


In October 2001, the SWD, as part of its efforts to enhance its support services to individuals or families in crisis or distress, commissioned the Caritas-Hong Kong to operate the first Family Crisis Support Centre (FCSC) in Hong Kong. The FCSC offers distressed individuals temporary accommodation for retreat and provides them with professional counselling on how to handle crisis and to avoid tragedy triggered by impulsive acts. The services provided by the FCSC include 24-hour hotline service (18288), short-term accommodation, crisis intervention, support/therapeutic/ counselling group, resource corner, day-time educational activities, stress management, outreaching service, as well as community education, etc. FSCS has been in full operation since March 2002.



The FCSC targets its services to needy individuals and families in crisis or distress, including those facing marriage problems or family violence etc. Service users, regardless of their gender, will receive the same support catering to their needs. Between March 2002 and January 2005, a total of 2,526 users had been admitted to the FCSC, including 447 male users (i.e. 18 per cent). About 60 per cent of these male users encountered conflicts or difficulties in their marital relationship, while others plagued by problems relating to parent-child relation, financial hardship, extramarital affairs or emotional problems. Moreover, of the 60,000 calls received by the FCSC hotline, about 14 per cent were from male callers.


(b) The FCSC is set up primarily to provide retreat facility and support services to help the distressed individuals calm down as quickly as possible and think through how to handle the crisis with the support of professional social workers. For this reason, these individuals normally will not stay too long in the centre. About 60 per cent of the help seekers stay in the FCSC for three days or less. However, the FCSC will make flexible arrangements or relax the time limit on their stay on a case-by-case basis and in some cases the accommodation period was as long as over two weeks. On the other hand, the FCSC will also refer cases with welfare needs to the respective Integrated Family Service Centre or Family and Child Protective Services Unit for follow-up action to facilitate the help seekers and their families to obtain necessary services.


(c) For men requiring temporary accommodation due to family problems, social workers will refer them to the FCSC for short-term accommodation on a case-by-case basis, and help them cope with their emotional problems and find positive ways to solve their family problems. Social workers may also refer them to the hostels for single persons operated by the NGOs to meet their accommodation needs.


Besides, if they have genuine housing needs, with sufficient social and medical reasons and are eligible for public rental housing, the SWD will consider recommending them for compassionate rehousing. Under the compassionate rehousing arrangements, a Conditional Tenancy Scheme is available to help those (including victims of spouse battering) who are assuming custody of child(ren) and on divorce proceedings to meet their genuine housing needs while awaiting the court decision on their divorce applications. With effect from November 2002, the Scheme was extended to cover victims of domestic violence having petitioned for divorce who have no children or have not brought along any dependent children. The SWD will also make recommendations on matters regarding transfer of public rental housing and splitting of public housing household to Housing Department for their consideration and action.


As the existing services have given sufficient level of support to men distressed by family problems, we are of the view that there is no need at this stage to provide additional temporary accommodation services for men.



Ends/Wednesday, March 9, 2005

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