Service Overview for
Youth-at-risk
Introduction
Chow Ching Chi, Edith
R.S.W.
Part-time Instructor
Department of Applied Social Sciences
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
1) Familiarize students with the services for
youth at risk.
2) Articulate and critically examine the complex
individual, family, social and environmental
conditions in contemporary societies that
affect youth at risk problems
3) Propose feasible strategies for working with
youth at risk and their significant others in
Hong Kong.
We are here to walk with You
WARM UP EXERCISE:
What is youth at
risk/Marginal youth?
Meet a new classmate and discuss
(https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/youth/youth_justice/youth_at_risk)
Marginal Youth
Marginal youths refer to those young people identified by
fieldworkers (e.g., social workers of Outreaching Social Work
Teams in Hong Kong, workers of Correctional Schools for Juvenile
Offenders and Vocational Schools in Shanghai and Guangzhou) as
potential or existing clients, displaying some form of problem
behaviors or delinquent activities (Ngai et al., 2001). However,
marginal youths’ involvement in delinquent activities does not take
place in a vacuum.
They draw on a subculture of delinquency, including a set of
precepts that release the delinquent from the constraints, limitations,
and control by law and custom (Downes & Rock, 1995). Thus,
subculture within a gang is attractive to its members for justifying
their crime and delinquency.
Subcultural components of youth gang
Subcultural components likely to arise from the youth
gang include:
(1) approval of crime and delinquency, (2) friends’
approval of crime and delinquency, (3) low self-control,(4)
learning from delinquent peers, (5) low attachment to
social workers/counselors, (6)conflict with police, and (7)
perception of social inequality. They appear as significant
factors leading to the young person or marginal youth’s
delinquency, according to various theories and research
works Ngai, N.P., & Cheung, C.K. (2004). Marginal Youth’s Subcultural Factors
Marginal Youth’s Subcultural Factors Underlying Their Gang Involvement: A Comparative Study
in Three Chinese Metropolitan Cities
The law: law breaking behavior in violation ofcriminal law
Legal definition: crime has referred to acts prohibited, prosecuted, and punished by criminal law
Retributive懲罰的/報應的:
punishment, Jail
"An intentional act”
committed without defense
or justification“ 無可抗辯.
Crime is:
Crime is contextual: Criminal harm takes
different forms depending on the
historical period, specific context, social
setting, location, or situation in which it
occurs.
"There are no purely objective definitions,
all definitions are value laden and biased to
some degree ( Barak, 1998)
Guilty or not guilty?
Crimes are not produced by legislation
alone.
Judicial interpretation also
determines what is or is not crime.
Judicial decisions can also be
appealed, overturned or revised
e.g.:Could the rape women choose to have the abortion? Did they commit a
crime?
Services for young offenders in HK
• Rehabilitation centre
• Detention
• Training centre
• Drug addiction treatment centre
• Care or protection order
• Probation Service
• Community service order scheme
• Residential Service for Young Probationers
• Outreaching social work team
• Extended services for young night drifters
• Youth support scheme (Police
superintendent’s discretion scheme)
• Counselling centres for psychotropic
substance abusers
Correctional
Service
Social
Welfare
Department
NGOs
1 & 2) Policies and Service Nature (https://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/social_welfare.pdf)
The Social Welfare Department (SWD) is responsible for
implementing the Government’s policies on social welfare and for
developing and co-ordinating social welfare services. These include
social security, services for the elderly, family and child welfare
services, medical social services, group and community work, services
for young people, rehabilitation services for people with disabilities,
as well as services for offenders.
Target: 6-24 children and youth
Mainly funded by SWD, with Funding Services Agreement (FSA)
Nineteen youth outreaching teams and 18 outreaching service for
young night drifters teams of NGOs provide counselling, guidance
and other social work services to young people who normally do not
participate in conventional social or youth activities and are
vulnerable to undesirable influences.
1 & 2) Policies and Service Naturehttps://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_young/sub_seryouthrisk/id_overnighto/
Since 1 September 2002, District Youth Outreaching Social Work
Teams run by 11 NGOs have been providing outreaching service
to address the needs of high-risk youth and to tackle issues of
juvenile gangs
To address the needs of young night drifters (YNDs) in a more
comprehensive manner, the Government has extended the service
hours and service focus of 18 Integrated Children and Youth
Services Centres for the purpose of providing overnight
outreaching service for YNDs on a territory-wide basis from
September 2001 onwards.
Non-recurrent funding has been provided to purchase 7-seater vans
and mobile phones while organising activities for YND to
facilitate service delivery in extended service hours.
1 & 2) Policies and Service Nature
Through the Community Support Service Scheme, the young
people cautioned under the Police Superintendent’s Discretion
Scheme are served by five NGOs.
with a view to re-integrating them into the mainstream
education or work force and reducing the likelihood of re-
offending. Currently, there are five NGOs operating CSSS over
the territory. For better service synergy, the five CSSS teams
were attached to five existing Integrated Children and Youth
Services Centres.
Others are self-financing services, projects relied on short term
funding, district based or agency’s back up.
1 & 2) Policies and Service Nature
Under the Criminal Justice system of Hong Kong
SWD uses social work approach in providing community-based
statutory supervision and guidance for offenders through
Probation Service, Community Service Orders Scheme, residential
training and aftercare services.
SWD provides residential service and training for
children/juveniles with behavioural problems or involved in
offences in a purpose-built training complex.
SWD works jointly with the Correctional Services Department in
delivering services for offenders. The Young Offender Assessment
Panel formed by the two departments consolidates views of
different professionals and recommends to the court the most
appropriate programme of social rehabilitation for convicted
young offenders.
1 & 2) Policies and Service Nature
The residential child care service is highly related to the
Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance (Cap. 213)
which gives authority to court, police officers and social
workers to take action to protect a child or juvenile, who are
aged under 18, in need of care or protection through the
application of the Care or Protection Order from the juvenile
Court.
According to Social Welfare Department (2017), residential
child care services are provided for children and young
persons under the age of 21 who cannot be adequately cared
for by their families because of various reasons such as
behavioural, emotional or relationship problems, or family
crises arising from illness, death and desertion. The service
includes non-institutional care and institutional care.
Services Target group
Non-Institutional
Care
Foster care children under 18 years of age
Small group homes x 112 children from 4 to under 18 years of age
Institutional Care
Residential child care centres
(Residential creches/ Residential
nursery) x 4
children under 3 years of age/ from 3 to
under 6
Children's reception centre x 4 children aged under 18 years of age
Children's homes x 5 children or young persons between 6 and
under 21 years of age
Boys'/ girls' homes x 11
children / young persons (7 to under 21
years of age) with behavioural or
emotional problems who are studying.
Schools for Social Development are run
within some of these homes
Boys'/ girls' hostels x 4
young persons (14 to under 21 years of
age) with behavioural or emotional
problems who are studying or working
The
residential
child care
service
1 & 2) Policies and Service Nature The Narcotics Division (ND) of the Security Bureau is tasked with co-ordinating policies
and measures across the public sector, non-government organisations (NGOs) and the
community to combat the problem of drug abuse
Anti-drug Policy (https://www.nd.gov.hk/en/antidrugstrategy.htm)
acting on the advice of the Action Committee Against Narcotics;
initiating and reviewing legislation and law enforcement measures
against drug trafficking;
implementing and facilitating the provision of preventive education
and publicity programmes, and treatment and rehabilitation
services;
administering the Central Registry of Drug Abuse;
providing funding and planning support for anti-drug community
involvement activities;
co-ordinating drug-related research; and
having international co-operation in anti-drug and anti-money
laundering and countering terrorist financing regime
https://www.nd.gov.hk/en/antidrugstrategy.htm
1 & 2) Policies and Service Nature
(Pls study: https://www.nd.gov.hk/pdf/three_year_plan_2018_2020_ch5_en.pdf)
Drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes include -
Compulsory placement scheme operated by the Correctional Services
Department;
Voluntary out-patient methadone treatment programme provided by the
Department of Health;
Voluntary residential drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes run
by non-governmental organisations. There are 37 drug treatment and
rehabilitation centres and halfway houses in the territory (19 of them
are subvented by Department of Health or Social Welfare Department);
Community-based counselling services, including 11 counselling
centres for psychotropic substance abusers and two centres for drug
counselling under subvention of Social Welfare Department;
Substance abuse clinics operated by the Hospital Authority.
https://www.nd.gov.hk/pdf/three_year_plan_2018_2020_ch5_en.pdf
3) Service Delivery
The youth-at-risk service content includes individual and family
counselling, therapeutic groups, skill training/educational groups,
adventure activities as well as recreational and community services.
The Youth Outreach operates two Crisis Residential Centres (the Boys'
Centre and the Girls' Centre) under the subvention of Social Welfare
Department. The crisis residential service provides professional
intervention and immediate and temporary accommodation lasting from 1
day to a maximum of 2 months for the youth-at-risk who are referred by
the integrated children and youth services centres, the youth outreaching
teams, or other welfare units serving youth-at-risk. .
Back-up shelter service (Holland hostel) provides protection and temporary
accommodation to those Young Night Drifters (YNDs) who are referred by
the integrated children and youth services centres, the youth outreaching
teams or other welfare units serving YNDs. Normally, the period of stay is
7 days.
3) Service Delivery (https://www.nd.gov.hk/pdf/three_year_plan_2018_2020_ch2_en.pdf)
The new FSAs provide CCPSAs with the flexibility to redeploy
resources for strengthening the assistance to these family members.
In addition, as a larger proportion of newly reported drug abusers
are young adults (aged 21 - 35), the scope of the preventive
education and outreaching efforts of CCPSAs is extended to cover
post-secondary education institutions, vocational training
organisations and workplaces. The new FSAs have come into effect
from October 2016.
CCPSAs offer community-based anti-drug counselling services and
assistance to psychotropic substance abusers (PSAs) and young
people at risk to assist them to stay away from drugs. On-site
medical support services are available, including voluntary drug
testing, motivational interviews and basic body checks.
3) Service Delivery(https://www.nd.gov.hk/pdf/three_year_plan_2018_2020_ch2_en.pdf)
Where appropriate, CCPSAs will refer cases to SACs for more intensive and specialist medical treatment. In addition, they provide aftercare services to drug rehabilitees of non-subvented DTRCs without such services.
CCPSAs also offer counselling and support services for family members of drug abusers as well as PE&P programmesfor secondary schools and post-secondary education institutions. Professional training for allied professionals is provided at the district level.
3) Service Delivery Models (depending on the case
assessment and agency work culture)
Gang Work / De-group
Outreaching method
Psychosocial approach
Crisis intervention
Family intervention / therapy
Career’s planning
Experiential Learning
Person centred therapy
Motivational Interviewing
Rational Emotive therapy
Relapse Prevention
Social Skill Training
Positive Psychology
Strength based perspectives
Solution focused therapy
Restorative Justice /
Mediation
Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy
4) Operation and work principles/ culture
Normally three sessions : Morning session,
after noon session and night session
Residential services : 24 hours operational
mode
Bridging services : YND coordinating with
ICYSC, OR and school social work service
teams, Shelter services and 24 hours
hotline, crisis intervention
District based
Mobilized and Reaching out method
Case management and Principle worker
Multi-disciplinary coordination
Identified presenting problems
Intake> Treatment plan > periodic review
Confidentiality
Privacy
Individualism
Parental consent
Risk assessment
Empowerment / Advocacy
Depending on the agency’s
policy and leadership style
Self-discipline!!!!
Accountable RSW!!
5) Tips of working in the service setting Networking
Building rapport
Be aware of centre culture and dynamics
Report to your supervisor and agency IC/mentor
Be grounded, realistic and flexible
Be proactive
Client management
Contact privacy
Time management (Set To-do-list PLEASE, stick to
your Learning Contract )
Dance with your supervisor and teammates
Submitting recordings regularly
Heartfelt reflection
6) Tips of working with specific clientele:
Start where the client is
Listening to the story of the client, Non-judgemental, person centred
Seeing facial expression and non-verbal languages
Hearted devoted – apply empathetic skills, be Humble
Hands – work independently,
search for referencing
Brain – Case conceptualization
Feet –Reaching Out, Walking with your YOUTH
What is Crime Prevention
“the total of all policies, measures and techniques, outside the boundaries of the criminal justice, aiming at the reduction of the various kinds of damage caused by acts defined as criminal by the state.”
Source: Van Dijk (1990: 205)
What is Crime Prevention
“ a pattern of attitudes and behaviourdirected both at reducing the threat of crime and enhancing the sense of safety and security, to positively influence the quality of life in our society and to help develop environments where crime cannot flourish”.
Source: National Crime Prevention Centre (1997:2)
What is crime prevention
Crime prevention is a result of everyday
practices concentrated in different
institutional settings…Yet much of the crime
prevention literature fits quite neatly into
seven major institutional settings: (1)family,
(2) schools, (3) communities, (4) labour
markets, (5) places, (6) police agencies and
(7) courts and corrections. Source: Sherman et al., (2002:5)
Integration of Concepts
Levels:
1) Primary 2)Secondary 3)Tertiary
Main Targets:
(1)Victims; (2) Offenders;
(3) Security staff; (4) Parents/
teachers ; (5) General citizens
Settings:
(1)Families; (2) Schools;
(3) Communities; (4) Labour
markets; (5) Places; (6) Police;
(7) Courts and corrections
Intervention:
(1) Policies; (2) Measures;
(3) Techniques
Objectives:
1. Reduce the number
of crime.
2. Reduce the risk of
crime.
3. Enhance the sense
of safety and security
4. Have a positive
influence on quality
of life.
Level
Tertiary
(to prevent offenders from reconviction)
Secondary
(to prevent high risk groups from embarking upon criminal career)
Primary
( to reduce crime by addressing underlying factors )
Primary prevention
Primary Prevention:
Primary prevention
approaches reduce crime by
addressing underlying
factors that have a basic
influence on everyone,
shaping people, sites, and
situations that are
amendable to criminal
events.
(Brangtingham, Brangtingham, & Taylor,
2005, p. 274)
Police
•Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB):
•e.g. Police Magazine 【警訊】•Junior Police Call (JPC): 190,000
members in 2017, Helping the Police
Fight Youth Crime, JPC Module A
Police Knowledge Training Course
Social Worker
22 children and youth centres in 2017
•There were 139 Integrated children
& youth service centres in 2017
•There were 34 NGOs operating
stationing school social work service
for 464 secondary day schools in 2017.
Others
•Fight Crime Committee (central)
•District Fight Crime Committee (local)
Secondary Prevention
Secondary prevention
focuses more narrowly
on individuals, groups,
or social conditions or
physical settings
known to be at high
risk of becoming
involved in criminal
events.
(Brangtingham , Brangtingham, & Taylor,
2005, p. 274)
Police
• The Police School liaison Program (PSLP) has been one of
community policing strategy since 1974.
• One objective is to “alert school children & school
authorities to the need for crime prevention’
• 117 School Liaison Officers (SLOs) are serving in HK
(2017).
Social Workers
• 19 District Youth Outreach Social Work Teams in 2017
(“they seek to reach out and provide counselling and
guidance to shoe young people aged between 6-24 who
normally do not participate in conventional youth
activities and are vulnerable to undesirable influences.”)
• “To address the needs of young night drifters, the gov’t
has further supported 18 ICYCS for providing overnight
outreaching services for YNDs on a territory-wide basis”
Others
•Fight Crime Committee (central)
•District Fight Crime Committee (local)
Tertiary Prevention
Tertiary prevention is
directed towards the
prevention of criminal
event recurrence. Tertiary
prevention includes, for
instance, physical
modification of repeatedly
victimized buildings,
offender rehabilitation
programmes, help for those
seeking to exit the sex
trade, restorative justice,
site-specific law
enforcement, and hot-spot
deterrence programmes.
(Brangtingham, Brangtingham, & Taylor,
2005, p. 275)
Police
Police Superintendent Discretionary Scheme (PSDS)/Police Caution: Persons under 18 who have committed a criminal offence might be dealt with by a procedure known as Police Superintendent's Discretion. Rather than being brought before a court, the offenders are cautioned. A caution under Police Superintendent's Discretion Scheme is not a criminal conviction. Therefore, there is no obligation to disclose it, and the offender has a clear record. The police, however, keep records of these cautions. (http://youth.clic.org.hk/en/usefulInfo/Criminal-records-and-the-Rehabilitation-of-Offenders-Ordinance/Police-Superintendents-Discretion-Scheme/)
Persons Arrested for Crime : Juveniles (aged 10 - 15) 910 in 2016 as 784 in 2017 Jan-Oct (-13.8%), Young Persons (aged 16 - 20) 1921 in 2016 as1516 in 2017 (-21.1%) (https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/09_statistics/csc.html)
In 2011, 1,987young people were cautioned.(FCC report 31, 2012) .The recidivism rate among the cases handled by PSDS was 18.2% in 2009 (A person is regarded as recidivist if s/he is re-arrested for crime within 2 years from the date of caution, or before s/he reaches 18 years of age).
Social Workers
5 Community Support Service Scheme (CSSS); 2,190cautioned youths were referred to this scheme in 2011 (FCC report 31, 2012).
Correctional Services
In 2016, a total of 10,643(M=7242; F=3,401) prisoners/inmates were admitted to the CSD’s programmes. “Over the past 10 years, based on 2005 and 2014 as the respective years of discharge, Hong Kong’s recidivism rate has decreased from 35.6 % to 25.9 %”. (www.csd.gov.hk)
http://youth.clic.org.hk/usefulInfo/Punishment-and-sentencing-options/17http://youth.clic.org.hk/usefulInfo/Punishment-and-sentencing-options/17http://youth.clic.org.hk/en/usefulInfo/Criminal-records-and-the-Rehabilitation-of-Offenders-Ordinance/Police-Superintendents-Discretion-Scheme/https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/09_statistics/csc.htmlhttp://www.csd.gov.hk/
Individual measures and mechanisms Risk factors
Family risk factors
School risk factors
Community risk factors
Individual/ friends/ peer risk factors
Protective factors
Healthy behaviours
Clear standards
Social bonding
Mentoring
Crime reduction programmes
e.g. cognitive behaviour treatment (CBT), drug treatment, etc.
Source: Tilley (2009: 52-79)
Bigblog.org.uk
How can we, as social workers, work with
youth at risk and their significant others ?
The social work profession promotes social change, problem
solving in human relationships and the empowerment and
liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of
human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the
points where people interact with their environments. Principles of
human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.
(IFSW)
The professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or
communities to enhance or restore their capacity of social
functioning
Creating societal conditions favorable to that goal (NASW)
Evaluation on Effectiveness Sherman et al., (1997)
Reviewed just over 500 crime prevention programmes and looked at:
1.Reductions in delinquency, juvenile crime, youth gang activity, youth substance abuse, and other high-risk factors.
2.Reductions in the risk factors in the community, school, and family environments that contribute to juvenile violence; and
3.Increases in the protective factors that reduce the likelihood of delinquency and criminal behaviour.
What Works in Crime Prevention?
(David Weisburd, David P. Farrington and
Charlotte Gill, 2017)
“our findings reinforce strongly the idea
that criminal justice programs and
interventions can rehabilitate offenders
and prevent crime.
Not everything works, but overall the
portrait of crime prevention and
rehabilitation that our work provides is
extraordinarily optimistic.”
EffectivenessWhat works?
“These are programs that we are
reasonably certain to prevent
crime or reduce risk factors for
crime in the kinds of social
contexts in which they have been
evaluated and for which the
findings can be generalized to
similar settings in other places and
times”(p.9).
What does not work?
“ These are programs that
we are reasonably certain
fail to prevent crime or
reduce risk factors for crime,
using the identical scientific
criteria
What is promising?
“ These are programs for which the
level of certainty from available
evidence is too low to support
generalizable conclusions, but for
which there is some empirical basis for
predicting that further research could
support such conclusions” (p.10).
What is unknown?
“Any program not classified in one of
the three above categories is defined
as having “unknown” effects” (p.10).
(Sherman et al., 2002)
What works?
For example:
For delinquent and at-risk preadolescents: Family therapy and parent training.
For school: communication and reinforcement of clear, consistent norms; Teaching of social competency skills.
For high-risk repeat offenders: Monitoring by specialized police units; Incarceration.
Source: Sherman et al. (1998:1)
What works in Developmental Prevention?
The study “aimed to summarize the long-term effects of prevention programs implemented during early and middle childhood (from infancy up to age 12) on later criminal offending during adulthood (age 18 or older). They also reported effects on positive outcomes such as academic attainment, and found nine evaluations. Taken together, the programs were effective in reducing adult offending (OR=1.26, CI=1.06–1.50). The effects on positive outcomes were somewhat larger (OR=1.36, CI=1.20–1.55).” (Deković et al.,2011)
Deković, M., Slagt, M. I., Asscher, J. J., Boendermaker, L., Eichelsheim, V. I., & Prinzie, P. (2011). Effects of early prevention programs on adult criminal offending: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 532–544.
What works?Weisburd, D., Farrington, D. P., & Gill, C. (2017). What Works in
Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation. Criminology & Public Policy
“Children who were more at risk and those from low socioeconomic
status (SES) families be benefited more. Shorter, more intensive
programs tended to produce larger effects.” (Farrington, D. P., Ttofi,
M. M., and Lösel, F. A., 2017)
33 systematic reviews of developmental prevention programs have
been summarized: “every summary OR effect size was greater than 1,
indicating that the program was effective. Furthermore, the effect size
was statistically significant in 18 out of 22
cases ……………………the family-based interventions were the
most effective.”(David P. Farrington, Maria M. Ttofi and Friedrich A.
Lösel, 2017)
What works?
As “early starters” contribute to a large proportion of total
offending (e.g. Farrington & Welsh, 2007; Moffitt, 1993),
an increased investment in developmental prevention
policies would make an important contribution to reducing
crime and violence. And this investment would also pay off
in financial terms. Typically, the benefits of developmental
prevention greatly outweigh the costs (e.g. Aos, Lieb,
Mayfield, Miller, & Pennucci, 2004; Welsh, Farrington, &
Raffan Gowar, 2015).
Sharing on special service setting in the
local context
1) Policies
2) Service nature
3) Service structure and delivery system
4) Operation and work culture
5) Tips of working in this service setting
6) Tips of working with specific clientele
Useful references and links: Hancock, M. (1997), Principles of social work practice: a generic practice approach. New
York : Haworth Press
Horejsi, C. R., & Horejsi, G. A. ( 1997). Techniques and Guidelines for Social Work Practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
YOUTHLAW:ycpc.hkfyg.org.hk/youthlaw
Service for Youth-at-risk https://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_young/sub_seryouthrisk/
http://www.hkcss.org.hk/c/business_detail.asp?isnew=1&page_type=cy
https://www.nd.gov.hk/en/antidrug_resources.htm
https://www.nd.gov.hk/pdf/three_year_plan_2018_2020_ch5_en.pdf
Crime Library
http://www.crimelibrary.com/
Bilingual Laws Information System, HK
http://www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/home.htm
Crime prevention studies volume 1 to 25
http://www.popcenter.org/library/CrimePrevention/
https://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_young/sub_seryouthrisk/http://www.hkcss.org.hk/c/business_detail.asp?isnew=1&page_type=cyhttps://www.nd.gov.hk/en/antidrug_resources.htmhttps://www.nd.gov.hk/pdf/three_year_plan_2018_2020_ch5_en.pdf
Q and A