4 Critical Success Factors towards a Safer and More Inclusive Society

CSD's Mission: Protect the Public and Prevent Crime for a better Hong Kong

4 Critical Success Factors towards a Safer and More Inclusive Society

1. Safe Custody
   

   Being one of the core business of CSD, safe custody manifest CSD's duty to provide a humane, secure, decent and healthy penal environment for offenders. Yet, it is not a simple task to sustain the correctional setting with good discipline and order as well as detaining offenders in a stable and harmonious manner. It relies on the professional teamwork across CSD as well as effective and efficient management systems.
   For human resources management, CSD has focused on maintaining a highly committed and motivated workforce through the provisions of strategic development and training. Likewise, CSD has well-developed monitoring systems to assure all the relevant rules and regulations are complied with. In addition, there are ongoing renovation and redevelopment projects to improve the penal environment and modernise facilities.

2. Appropriate Rehabilitative Programmes
   

   While almost all offenders will return to society, CSD strives to help them rehabilitate and reintegrate as law-abiding citizens whereas appropriate rehabilitative programmes are of paramount importance. Through timely and appropriate intervention, CSD aims to address offenders' offending behaviour and criminal thinking, improve their skills to make a living, and eventually help them reintegrate into society. To achieve such purpose, our professional and qualified staff deliver systematic and effective rehabilitation programmes, which cater for offenders' rehabilitative needs. To adopt evidence-based and scientific approach in offender rehabilitation, CSD implemented a "Risks and Needs Assessment and Management Protocol for Offenders" in October 2006. Being a new initiative of CSD, the Protocol has been implemented conscientiously and incrementally with regard to the offenders' responsivity towards our programmes.
    

3. Offenders' Responsivity and Determination
   

   Apart from our foremost duty to provide safe custody and appropriate rehabilitative programmes, the process of rehabilitation would not be successful without offenders' own effort. Offenders' inner motive and willingness to turn over a new leaf is an indispensable part for their successful reintegration. They are also the origin to sustain their motivation to cherish rehabilitation chances and to live a new life after discharge. Likewise, such motive and willingness will affect the programme effectiveness directly. If they could sustain their willingness to rehabilitate, it would be easier for them to resist temptation, remain law-abiding and leave the vicious cycle of re-offending.
   Yet, their determination is affected by myriads of independent but interlocking criminogenic, personal and socio-economic factors. While, CSD has been strengtheningm its rehabilitative works to help enhance offenders' responsivity towards the programmes offered, it also draws in non-government organizations (NGOs) to provide services to facilitate offenders' reintegration into the community.
    

4. Community Support
   

   Community support occupies a significant position in building a safer and more inclusive society. In fact, community's understanding, acceptance and support could help stop the vicious cycle of re-offending. The best way to achieve this is through continuous public education. Since the nineties, CSD has been actively involved in youth education and launched the Rehabilitation Pioneer Project in September 2008 to disseminate the messages of safeguarding our country and home, leading a law-abiding and drug-free life as well as supporting offender rehabilitation. To enlist wider public support and involvement, CSD has been organizing various rehabilitation-related activities across the community in recent years.