ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the development of family service centres in Hong Kong. Our choice of Hong Kong reflects not simply our research links with academics and practitioners there and our shared interest in family support initiatives but also in the valuable lessons we can all learn about our own approach to family social work and evaluation by contact with different cultures and service traditions. To this end the chapter first looks briefly at family culture and welfare, secondly it outlines the development of family service centres and thirdly it describes some of the current and future strategies for appraising service quality and effectiveness. We are deeply indebted to Professor C.K. Law, Head of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong, Mr Timothy Leung, Training Officer and Mr Felix Choi, Research Officer, both of the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society, who have provided material for this chapter and whose support has been invaluable in gaining an insight into this area of family welfare practice. We also recognise the recent historical watershed surrounding the return of this territory to the sovereignty of China in mid 1997 and wish only to state that our comments on Hong Kong services refer to circumstances prior to that date.
