Press Releases
SHW tours social security field units
Secretary for Health and Welfare, Dr E K Yeoh, took time off to visit a social security field unit and a family services centre of the Social Welfare Department on Hong Kong Island East this (December 13) morning.
Accompanied by the Director of Social Welfare, Mrs Carrie Lam, Dr Yeoh first called on the Causeway Bay Social Security Field Unit which registers the highest number of Social Security Allowance (SSA) cases among the 38 field units in Hong Kong. Of the cases, some 31,000 relate to Old Age Allowance and 5,600 Disability Allowance.
Dr Yeoh learnt that since the introduction of the Support for Self-reliance Scheme in June 1999, the Causeway Bay Social Security Field Unit has assisted 264 CSSA recipients find jobs under the Active Employment Assistance (AEA) programme. Of them, 119 have ceased to receive CSSA while the remaining 145 have been converted to the low-earning category. The AEA programme is specifically designed by the Social Welfare Department to encourage and assist able-bodied CSSA recipients towards paid employment and self-reliance.
From there, Dr Yeoh went to the Quarry Bay Family Services Centre which serves a mixed group of clients � coming from public housing estates to major private estates in the area. Another characteristic of the area is a concentration of new arrivals and single elderly in Shaukeiwan. Their main requests for assistance include family counseling, child care, parenting and other forms of tangible assistance.
During the tour, Dr Yeoh also took the opportunity to meet with frontline staff at the two offices. He listened to their views and how they have been coping with increasing workload in recent months. Dr Yeoh showed his appreciation to the dedication and hard work of the staff members and encouraged them to assist those in need in the midst of the current economic downturn in a professional and compassionate manner. He also praised staff of the field unit for the success in assisting CSSA recipients back to work.
End/Thursday, December 13, 2001
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