Rehabilitation
Set up in 1998, the Rehabilitation Division has firmly established itself in offender rehabilitation with our 20 years of experience. Underpinned by dual emphasis on safe custody and appropriate rehabilitation programmes, the Rehabilitation Division continues to strengthen its effort in community education to promote law-abiding concept and support offender rehabilitation among young persons. In 2018, we held the Rehabilitation Division 20th Anniversary Open Day cum Rehabilitation Pioneer Leaders Inauguration Ceremony, which signified the Department’s further step towards the initiative of instilling positive values in youths for crime prevention.
Pre-sentence Assessment
Pre-sentence Assessment provides the court with profiles of the persons awaiting sentence and makes recommendations on the rehabilitation scheme for them. There were 1 928 cases in 2018. The Young Offender Assessment Panel, composed of professionals from CSD and Social Welfare Department, provides coordinated views to the court in the sentencing of young offenders by conducting interviews and assessments. In 2018, the Panel handled 50 referrals and 88% of recommendations were accepted.
Risks and Needs Assessment and Management Protocol for Offenders
The Protocol was designed to identify persons in custody prone to custodial and re-offending risks to enhance prison management, and to deliver rehabilitation programmes matched with offenders' needs. In 2018, 2 461 re-offending risks and rehabilitative needs assessments were completed and 9 837 sessions of Risks and Needs (R&N) Programme Matching were conducted for 24 302 participants. To further reduce reoffending, local universities will be invited to conduct a review on the R&N Protocol with an aim to develop a new localised Protocol that best suits the offenders with special treatment needs.
Welfare Support and Counselling
The Rehabilitation Division renders welfare support and counselling to persons in custody to facilitate their adjustment to the life under custody. The main objectives are to address the welfare needs of persons in custody, provide them with guidance to reflect on their offending behaviour and prepare them for reintegration into society. In 2018, we conducted 174 761 individual counselling sessions and 1 663 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. In 2018, 29 130 counselling sessions were conducted and 417 assessment reports were prepared. To enhance public understanding of the transformation of females in custody through psychological treatment, an exhibition named "Women Who Shine Through the Wall - an Exhibition of Therapeutic Drawings by Female Persons-in-custody" was held in September 2018 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. While showing recognition of personal growth through therapeutic drawings of the female persons in custody, the event also promoted the message of resilience in facing adversity among public.
“Women Who Shine Through the Wall”
To enhance public understanding of the transformation of females in custody through psychological treatment, an exhibition named “Women Who Shine Through the Wall - an Exhibition of Therapeutic Drawings by Female Persons-in-custody” was held in September 2018 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Psychological Services
“LIFE GYM: The positive living centre for men” was set up at Stanley Prison for managing psychological problems and developing a pro-social and healthy lifestyle in male adult persons in custody. Its full-scale trial run was launched on 19 November 2018. The technology of Virtual Reality (VR) will be employed in this programme to enhance the skills of persons in custody in anger management and handling situations pertaining to reoffending behaviours. In 2018, we continued our research in collaboration with renowned academics and researchers in the study of psychological correlates of youth offending problems. Relevant research findings on criminal attitude and aggression tendency of young offenders and psychological intervention programme on family relationship and parenting work were shared and presented in different professional platforms including the Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting in USA in April 2018 and the International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology in Malaysia in August 2018.
“LIFE GYM:
- The positive living centre for men”
“LIFE GYM: The positive living centre for men” was set up at Stanley Prison. The technology of virtual reality and board games will be employed in this programme to develop a pro-social and healthy lifestyle in male adult persons in custody.
Education
overall passing rate :
The Education Unit caters for young persons in custody with programmes focusing on general and practical studies. Eligible persons in custody are assisted in participating in public examinations, such as the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination. We are committed to equipping young persons in custody academically and assisting them in attaining accredited qualifications. The Unit also facilitates adult persons in custody who participate in continuing education voluntarily. We cooperate with the Open University of Hong Kong and other educational institutions to promote higher learning and encourage persons in custody to seek personal enhancement in prisons. In the year, elements of STEM education have been introduced in Pik Uk Correctional Institution (PUCI) to nurture the creativity, collaboration and problem solving skills of young persons in custody. In 2018, a total of 760 public examination papers were taken and the overall passing rate was 62.9%.
Certificate Presentation Ceremony for robot coding course took place at Pik Uk Correctional Institution on November 16, 2018.
The Department organised the Certificate Presentation Ceremony on January, 2018.
Half-way House
Half-way House extends efforts beyond detention, training and drug addiction treatment centres or prisons. Supervisees residing in a half-way house may go out to work or attend school during daytime for better reintegration, discipline and civic awareness. Recreational and social activities are also available.
Statutory Supervision
Statutory supervision facilitates smooth transition back into society for young persons in custody, drug addicts and certain persons in custody. Supervision staff visit supervisees’ home and workplace, and work with them and their social networks to garner respect and support. As at the end of 2018, 1 412 persons were under active statutory supervision.
A variety of inmate-parent programmes will be held at the Half-way House for strengthening family bonds between the residents and their family members. Under the programme "Family Album", for example, residents of the Half-way House are encouraged to produce their own photo albums highlighting family activities they have experienced together. Counselling is also rendered throughout the programme for improving communication skills between the residents and their family members.
Rehabilitation Synergistic Partners
The Department works closely with rehabilitation synergistic partners to provide rehabilitation programmes. In 2018, around 100 "NGOs/ charity organisations/ synergistic partners/ community stakeholders" provided counselling and kept running cultural, religious and recreational projects, or actively involving in departmental long-term project and planning. In November 2018, correctional facilities under CSD held various activities under the theme of "Thank-you NGO Month" to provide an opportunity for persons in custody to express gratitude towards volunteers of NGOs who have been rendering long-standing service support to the Department. In December 2018, we held an NGO Forum in collaboration with the City University of Hong Kong to boost cooperation with NGOs.
The Department organised the “Correctional Services Chaplains Conference” on May 4, 2018, at which participants discussed the strategies for facilitating offenders rehabilitation through religious activities.
Community Engagement
We have been reaching out to the community to seek public engagement for offender rehabilitation. Among other partners, the Committee on Community Support for Rehabilitated Offenders, composed of community leaders and professionals, advises on offender rehabilitation and publicity strategies. The CSD Rehabilitation Volunteer Group (CSDRVG) organises activities to supplement services in meeting the needs of persons in custody. With around 230 volunteers, the Group conducted language courses, computer studies, cultural pursuits, etc., for persons in custody in various correctional institutions. Publicity activities have been on-going since 1999, constituting a bridge between persons in custody and society. Through activities such as District Fight Crime Committees District-based Publicity Activities on Offender Rehabilitation, Thank-you NGO Month, NGO Forum and Award Presentation Ceremony for Volunteers of CSDRVG, the importance of collaborative efforts made by members of the community and NGOs to accept and help offenders rehabilitate was highlighted. CSD continues to collaborate with various employers, business organisations and statutory bodies through institutional visits and other interactions to help enhance the employability of rehabilitated persons.
The Department and the Centre for Criminology of the University of Hong Kong jointly held the "Unleashing Rehabilitated Offenders' Potential" Employment Symposium to appeal to the public and employers to offer fair job opportunities to rehabilitated offenders.
In June 2018, around 200 representatives from over 70 business organisations, social enterprises, statutory bodies and community members attended the "Unleashing Rehabilitated Offenders' Potential" Employment Symposium jointly held by CSD and the Centre for Criminology of the University of Hong Kong. It provided a platform for employers who had hired rehabilitated offenders to share their experiences and for rehabilitated offenders to recount their stories of reintegration. The event also aimed to appeal to the public and employers to offer fair job opportunities to rehabilitated offenders and help them reintegrate into society.
Rehabilitation Pioneer Project
The Rehabilitation Pioneer Project (RPP) continues to disseminate to the public the messages of leading a law-abiding and drug-free life as well as supporting offender rehabilitation through nine major community education activities for secondary students. Among them, the Summer Camp arranged youths to join the tour to the Mainland for visits to schools and families in rural areas as well as a large-scale infrastructure with an aim to provide participants with an all-round learning experience conducive to their whole-person development, and to foster development of positive values and attitude.
The first youth uniformed group of the Department named as Rehabilitation Pioneer Leaders (RPLs) comprising 30 teenagers with potential of leadership was inaugurated in July 2018 and has become the tenth regular programme under the RPP this year. In last August, the RPLs went on a three-day/two-night study tour to Zhongshan City. They visited various judicial departments, including a detention centre of the Public Security Bureau, a drug rehabilitation centre of the Justice Bureau, the traffic police command centre of the Public Security Bureau, a juvenile probation centre of the Procuratorate, a charity centre in Xiaolan town, and the Memorial Hall of the Former Residence of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The second cohort of 30 RPLs including young persons of ethnic minorities has also been recruited. Through diversified training, members will broaden their horizons, develop their potential, enhance their social responsibility and be encouraged to contribute to the society in the future by promoting law-abiding and inclusive values for a better Hong Kong.
The first youth uniformed group of the Department named as “Rehabilitation Pioneer Leaders” was formed in 2018 to disseminate to the young people the messages of leading a law-abiding and drug-free life as well as supporting offender rehabilitation.
"Rehabilitation Pioneer Leaders" is established with the support of community leaders.
