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Hong Kong Correctional Services Annual Review 2014

[ Commissioner’s Foreword]   [ Operations and Institutional Management ]   [ Rehabilitation ]   [ Industries and Vocational Training ]

[ Human Resource Management ]   [ Quality Assurance ]   [ Administration and Planning ]   [ Green Management ]   [ Appendices ]

Rehabilitation

Set up in 1998, our sixteen years of experience have firmly established the Division in the offender rehabilitation front. The Rehabilitation Division bases our professionalism on CSD's principles of placing dual emphasis on custodial and rehabilitative services advocated in 1982. In 2014, we continued to use the theme "Give Rehabilitated Offenders A Chance" to design our diversified yet unique on-going initiatives and enhanced services to help offenders rehabilitate and reintegrate into society.

Pre-sentence Assessment Services

Pre-sentence Assessment Services provide the court with comprehensive profiles of the offenders and make recommendations on the most suitable rehabilitation scheme for them. In 2014, 18 assessment staff members handled a total of 3 066 cases.

The Young Offender Assessment Panel, composed of correctional and social welfare professionals, provides coordinated professional views to the court in the sentencing of young offenders by conducting interviews and assessments. In 2014, the Panel handled 80 referrals and 92.5% of its recommendations were accepted.

Risks and Needs Assessment and Management Protocol for Offenders

The Risks and Needs Assessment and Management Protocol for Offenders was designed to identify persons in custody prone to custodial as well as re-offending risks to enhance prison management, and to deliver rehabilitative programmes matching with offenders' rehabilitation needs to facilitate their rehabilitation. In 2014, 9 223 sessions of Risks and Needs Programme Matching were conducted. 26 925 and 3 333 persons in custody participated in Risks and Needs Programme Matching and Re-offending Risks Assessment respectively.

Welfare Support and Counselling

The Rehabilitation Division renders welfare support and counselling to persons in custody right from their admission to correctional institutions when they may be facing the most difficult time during custody. The main objectives are to cater for the welfare needs of persons in custody, help them deal with their adjustment problems, address their offending behaviour and prepare them for reintegration into society. In 2014, we conducted 155 625 individual counselling sessions and 1 261 pre-release reintegration orientation courses.

Psychological Services

Targeting offending behaviour by addressing criminogenic needs, psychological services are rendered to enhance the psychological well-being of offenders while under custodial care. Using clinical tools, systematic psychological assessment and follow-up are provided. The Division continued to strengthen the psychological treatment programmes targeting offending behaviours for sex offenders, violent offenders, young offenders, drug abusers, and female persons in custody.

We have progressed smoothly in developing the comprehensive battery of assessment tools for adult and young sex offenders to accurately understand their re-offending risks and treatment needs. We continued our collaboration with renowned academics to develop the tools for assessing re-offending risks of adult violent offenders. At the same time, active attempt is underway to improve and update the battery of psychological assessment tools for local young offenders to facilitate assessment, treatment and evaluation work. With the new psychological assessment protocol, we envisage having more detailed and accurate understanding of the most updated psychological risks / needs profile of the new generation of young offenders in the coming decades.

In 2014, 32 072 counselling sessions were conducted and 559 assessment reports were prepared.

Education

The Education Unit caters for young persons in custody with customised programmes, focusing on general and practical studies. Facilities are continuously being upgraded for enhancing their learning effectiveness in information technology and language courses in particular. Young persons in custody obtained satisfactory results in the third Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. We are committed to strengthening education support for young persons in custody to equip them academically and assist them to attain accredited qualifications.

For adult persons in custody, we cooperate with the Open University of Hong Kong and other institutions to promote higher learning and self-improvement, and have arranged for members of CSD Rehabilitation Volunteer Group to run educational classes for them. In 2014, a total of 763 public examination papers were taken and the overall passing rate was 72%.

Statutory Supervision

Statutory supervision safeguards young persons in custody, drug addicts and certain persons in custody in their transition back into society. Supervision staff work with persons in custody and their social networks to garner respect and support. At the end of 2014, 2 169 persons were under active statutory supervision.

Half-way House

Half-way House extends efforts beyond detention, training and drug addiction treatment centres or prisons. Supervisees may reside in a half-way house from which they can work or attend school for better reintegration, discipline and civic awareness. Recreational and social activities are also available.

Non-Government Organisations (NGOs)

The Department works closely with NGOs to provide rehabilitation services. In 2014, more than 2 000 volunteers from over 80 NGOs served from counselling to the organisation of cultural, religious and recreational projects. We held a forum entitled "Strategies to Enhance the Effectiveness of Offender Rehabilitation Programme" in November 2014 in conjunction with the City University of Hong Kong to boost cooperation with NGOs. In December 2014, 28 correctional facilities under CSD held various activities under the theme of "Thank-you NGO Week" to let persons in custody express their gratitude towards personnel and volunteers of NGOs which have been co-operating with the Department for a long time. We continued to implement the "Creation and Rehabilitation" Programme in Stanley Prison in collaboration with one of the NGOs, by using creative arts and drama to help persons in custody build skills in communication, leadership, problem-solving, conflict resolution and respect for self and others.

We arranged for some 300 students from secondary schools to attend the "Rehabilitation Pioneer Project (RPP)" - A Drama and Music Performance of "Creation and Rehabilitation" at Stanley Prison in February 2014. It promoted the students' awareness on the serious consequence of committing crime, importance of offender rehabilitation and social inclusion.

Community Engagement

We reach out to the community to seek public engagement for offender rehabilitation. Among other partners, the Committee on Community Support for Rehabilitated Offenders, composed of leaders and professionals from different walks of life, advises on rehabilitation strategies notably publicity programmes.

CSD Rehabilitation Volunteer Group (CSDRVG) organises activities to supplement services in meeting the needs of persons in custody. With around 300 volunteers, the Group conducted language courses, computer studies, cultural pursuits, etc., for persons in custody in various correctional institutions in 2014.

Publicity activities have been ongoing since 1999, constituting a bridge between persons in custody and society. Through activities such as District Fight Crime Committees District-based Publicity Activities for Rehabilitated Persons, TV Variety Show "Support Offender Rehabilitation for a Safer and More Inclusive Society", Thank-you NGO Week, NGO Forum and Award Presentation Ceremony for Volunteers of CSDRVG held in 2014, the importance of collaborative efforts made by members of the community and NGOs to accept and help offenders rehabilitate was highlighted.

CSD collaborates with various employers, business organisations and statutory bodies, to help enhance the employability of rehabilitated persons.

In June 2014, more than 200 representatives from over 100 business organisations, social enterprises, statutory bodies and social sectors attended the "Unleashing Rehabilitated Offenders' Potential" Employment Symposium jointly held by CSD and the Centre for Criminology of the University of Hong Kong. It aimed to provide a platform for employers who had hired rehabilitated offenders to share their experiences and gave rehabilitated offenders an opportunity to share their stories of reintegration. The event also aimed to appeal to the public and employers to accept and give equal job opportunities to rehabilitated offenders and help them reintegrate into society after release.

In September 2014, CSD jointly held the Job Fair for Rehabilitated Offenders 2014 for persons in custody with the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong and Merchants Support for Rehabilitated Offenders Committee Limited. During the event, employers were gathered in one place to conduct interviews with persons in custody in correctional institutions via computer video conferencing technology for the first time. It provided a platform for persons in custody who would be released soon to look for jobs, thus helping them reintegrate into society quickly after release.

Rehabilitation Pioneer Project

The Rehabilitation Pioneer Project covers a series of educational talks, visits and forums for youth. The talks provide basic information on Hong Kong's criminal justice system and CSD's custodial and rehabilitative services. The Personal Encounter with Prisoners Scheme complements other crime fighting tools by arranging young students to visit correctional institutions and meet with persons in custody for experience sharing. The Green Haven Scheme promotes anti-drug messages and the importance of environmental protection among young people.

Participants meet with young persons in custody at treatment centres on Hei Ling Chau, gaining insight into the detrimental effects of drug abuse. Visits to Hong Kong Correctional Services Museum and Lo Wu Correctional Institution Community Education Centre foster participants' understanding of the development of correctional services, particularly the importance of public support for offender rehabilitation. The Student Forum is another crime prevention programme under which rehabilitated offenders are arranged to address students and elaborate on the consequences of crime. In 2014, CSD organised three Student Forums with the participation of over 1 500 secondary students, teachers and social workers. Adopting a theatre format for the first time, the forum featured a drama about a person who went astray by taking drugs. Students were invited to participate in a role play and a sharing session to strengthen the interactive effect. The forum enabled the students to understand the dire consequences of taking drugs and committing crimes. CSD arranged ten extended training camps in 2014 to intensify the effectiveness of the project.

With a view to enhancing educational professionals' understanding on the programme content and objective, CSD has arranged visits to correctional institutions for school principals, teachers and social workers from primary / secondary schools since 2013, so that they can have a better idea on the RPP programme and the services provided by CSD and encourage their students to participate in the programme.

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