The Social Welfare Department welcomes recommendations in the report by the Review Panel on Family Services in Tin Shui Wai, and will study them carefully with other Government departments and organisations.

The panel, set up after a family tragedy in Tin Shui Wai in April, made recommendations relating to district co-ordination and collaboration, service enhancement and improvements to support families in the report released today.

Director of Social Welfare Paul Tang said the department has launched several enhancement and improvement measures in service delivery, including the addition of the sixth Family & Child Protective Services Unit next April, reviewing guidelines on handling child abuse, re-engineering family services, and strengthening the district co-ordination mechanism.

Boosting flexibility

Mr Tang said the issue of enhancing the co-ordinating role of district welfare officer in terms of manpower and resource allocation will be studied to increase flexibility in preventing and handling domestic violence.

Domestic violence liaison groups, with representatives from the department, Police and comprehensive family services centres, will also be set up in all 13 districts.

Mr Tang said the department is working to enhance co-ordination with Police in handling referrals of domestic violence cases, and examining proposals relating to legal provisions in the Domestic Violence Ordinance and related issues.

To handle child abuse cases, the department will prepare reference materials for social workers, and actively consider the panel's proposal of outsourcing the management of shelter services to a non-government body.