The third year’s work of “Envisioning 2024”, a five-year-long project, has been accomplished. Our four strategic teams have, apart from attempting various schemes and reformations, ceaselessly reviewed and revised our progress. The Society has therefore moved a step forward to realising the two strategic goals:
▪ To strengthen the application of the unique “family-centric” intervention model across services, effectively address the needs of families, safeguard family wellbeing, and develop a family-friendly environment in this rapidly changing society.
▪ To engage the community and foster partnerships to co-create, pass on and advocate family values so as to build a caring society with family wellbeing as the core.
Strategic Group 1 (Formulating the “HKFWS Formula”) – Deepen the Understanding of the "HKFWS Formula" and Strengthen the Practice of "Family-centric" Perspective at Work
To further consolidate the practice of “family-centric" perspective in the Society, we invited Dr. Lau Yuk King, professional consultant of Department of Social Work of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, to conduct two training sessions for our management and frontline staff to revisit the values and principles of “family-centric” perspective and raising the concern about family wellbeing to elaborate on applying them on service delivery. At the same time, we encourage different service units to integrate the “family-centric” perspective into their staff training and service delivery, so as to maintain diversified services for families from every social strata in Hong Kong. We believe staff members of all positions are capable of actualising the “family-centric” perspective in service delivery. We have therefore invited frontline staff from elderly service, including a home care assistant, a therapist assistant and a chef, to share their understanding on the “family-centric” perspective. Through their sincere sharing, our colleagues acquired a deeper and concrete understanding on how elderly service support families and elders.
Strategic Group 2 (Staff Capacity Building) – Expand Professional Training and Enhance Staff Exposure
We invited the Department of Social Work of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to collaboratively trial run the “Social Work Engagement Programme on Professional Development”. Through a series of pre-vocational experience, social work graduates-to-be (Bachelor’s Degree and Master Degree) could intensify their professional engagement and understanding of the Society’s services. Receiving unanimous recognition and support by the Department, the Programme will be held on a continuous and annual basis. Incorporating professional education onto social work and career practices, we jointly nurture more capable social workers. We have also persistently set in motion the “Internal Attachment Programme” for our staff to experience the work of other service units. Through such eye-broadening exchange, our colleagues could deepen their understanding and application of the Society’s services and resources, therefore pushing forward our service integration and development.
Strategic Group 3 (Aligning District Efforts/ Cross-sector Collaboration) – Learn and Apply Community Engagement at Work and Regularise District Meeting
To boost our staffs’ understanding on community engagement, we produced an educational video, offered consultation service, organised study groups and held exchange sessions with other agencies. Apart from these, our core services attempted to apply community engagement at work by such means as child protection, youth mental health and elderly carers support. We expected to establish community support and uplift community’s competence through joint efforts across agencies, education and training, intensified collaboration with external fields and forums. The Society has also regularised the District Meeting to facilitate interaction and collaboration among centres and contribute to community wellbeing.
Strategic Group 4 (Central Advocacy Campaign) - Speak to the Public Regarding Different Family-related Issues Through Various Means
To raise the concern about family wellbeing, we continued to designate May as “Family Month”, so as to connect units within the Society and with partners from different sectors. The “Family First Campaign” specialised team has also organised “Homeland” Family Market 2022, the first family-themed market, and “PLA-mily” the public education campaign. Apart from promulgating the message of “Family First” through “Edu-tainment” means, we aimed to bring about a platform free from any label of social welfare, allowing us to gather capability from corporates and social enterprises to intensify the impact of our advocacy work. To address social issues, we expressed our opinions and released survey results, for instance, voicing our views on the Bill related to “Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse”. We also released a study on “Social Support to Families by Property Management Companies and Neighbours”, which analysed the current situation and advocated social connection.
