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Following is a speech by the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Dr E K Yeoh, at the 41st Annual General Meeting of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups today (September 27):
Rosanna, Members of the Federation, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to be invited to the 41st Annual General Meeting of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups and to say a few words. The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups has over the past 41 years worked unfailingly and wholeheartedly for the well-being of our younger generation.
The success of the Federation is due, in no small measure, to the dedication of the Board and the staff, and I wish to join the community in expressing our warm appreciation to you all.
Our youth are the future "owners" of our society. Both the Government and the community attach much importance to helping them cope with the pressures of modern day life in order to become mature, responsible and contributing members of our society.
I would like to share with you some of our thoughts on the future planning of welfare services. Hong Kong has undergone rapid political, economic, social and demographic changes in the last 4 decades. Consequently, I am sure you all will agree that we need to cope with these changes by developing a strategic and forward-looking planning process, so that the delivery of our welfare services can meet present-day challenges and in particular, the current day needs of our community in a responsive and timely manner.
Many of you will be aware that the Health and Welfare Bureau is currently creating a new planning process for welfare services. We have appointed a planning advisor for this process and to pilot it in two programme areas, namely youth and rehabilitation.
The new planning process is essentially a change management process. It represents a shift from the former rigid population-based planning mechanism to a more vision/mission-led, values/philosophies guided, needs-based planning mechanism. This process will involve various levels of planning, namely strategic planning, medium-term planning and annual planning, with evidence-based needs assessment built in throughout the various levels. At the strategic planning level, we will develop broad strategic directions to achieve the longer-term changes that are required to meet the changing needs of the community and to fulfill our policy objectives and in turn our broad mission statements. At the medium-term planning level, we will formulate programme plans for the relevant bureaux and departments to cover the next three to five years. And at the annual planning level, we set down all the tasks which need to be accomplished in the coming year covering both "baseline" and "new" activities of the concerned departments and subvented non-governmental organizations such as the Federation.
The critical success factors for this change management process are:
* Emphasis on strategic visioning;
* Focusing on client outcomes;
* Involving stakeholders;
* Communicating effectively;
* Striving for inter-bureau/department and inter-sectoral collaboration, particularly in the interfacing of services;
* Developing a vertical link between the various levels of planning, so that policy objectives and strategic directions can cascade down and feedback from frontline experience can be channeled up;
* Promoting accountability and continuous improvement; and
* Building skills and capacity within the sectors.
In the youth welfare area, advice on a number of fundamental issues is required -
(a)What are the needs of our young people? How are such needs to be assessed?
(b)What are the services required by our young people? How should they be provided and by whom? How is the effectiveness of such services to be assessed?
To answer these questions, we need to understand better the different dimensions of an individual's development, with different life stages and the influence of the environment. These dimensions of human development are : the biosocial domain including brain and body changes and the social influences that guide them; the cognitive domain, including thought processes, perceptual abilities and language mastery, as well as the educational institutions that encourage them; and the psychosocial domain, including emotions, personality, and interpersonal relationships, and the complex social context in which they occur. A critical stage of mental and emotional development is infancy and early childhood. Trust or mistrust is developed from age 0 to 1, whereas age 1 to 3 is critical to autonomy vs. shame and doubt. During this extremely sensitive period, nurturing has a substantial effect on the child's subsequent ability to learn. Parents need to be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to ensure the best start for all children in the pre-school period.
Physical growth in childhood is accompanied by cognitive and psychosocial development. Initiative and guilt at age 3 to 6, as well as industry and inferiority at age 7 to 11, are important landmarks. We need to work closely with parents to provide the best environment for the children's development. To better meet the need of families, we have recently conducted a study of our family service, with a review to remodeling it to be child-centred, family-focused and community based.
As children grow into adolescence, they enter an essential formative stage of life, when they establish their identity or suffer from role confusion. They are often faced with challenges in their academic, personal, emotional and family life. They need to develop positive values, interpersonal skills, emotional stability and resilience to tackle these challenges. They can make use of the school social work service and community-based youth services. For youth who have not had the fortune of a conducive environment or supportive relationships, different interventions and additional support will be provided.
Some of you may have participated in our Youth Forum and Discussion Groups conducted in July and attended the Youth Summit organized by the Commission on Youth earlier this month. I am very grateful for your active participation and hope that these sharing experiences will help us all to better address the needs of our young people and to develop services which meet the challenges in this new Century. The Administration needs your input and is totally committed to working with the Welfare Sector in this process. I am sure that with its vast experience, the Federation has much to contribute to this important exercise.
In closing, may I thank you for this opportunity to speak today and wish the Federation a fruitful meeting today, and every success in its future endeavours. Thank you.
END/Thursday, September 27, 2001
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