The plea came after the Society for Community Organisation (SoCo) conducted a study last year along with St Francis University (SFU) to learn more about the needs of homeless people in Hong Kong and their difficulties.
They interviewed about 100 homeless people, and found that apart from smoking, about 40 percent of them suffered from at least one addiction problem, and nearly 17 percent of them have three or more addictions, such as with drugs, alcohol and gambling.
At a press briefing on Sunday, they also pointed out that many of the government’s temporary shelter schemes currently set conditions of stay which can be inconvenient to those seeking help.
“Sixty percent of these hostels have a six-month restriction period, so homeless people have to move out after.” said SFU’s school of social sciences professor Wong Yu-cheong.
“The living environment at hostels is also not desirable, so some homeless people may not be happy with living in these hostels with limited service times and other restrictions,” he said.
Wong urged the government to adopt a mixed model, which allows homeless people to first be allocated a long-term living space of at least two years, and then provide rehabilitation services.
SoCo also said authorities need to beef up rehabilitation staff numbers at these hostels, and increase their training, to help residents deal with their addictions and mental health issues.
As of last December, there were 672 homeless people registered under the Social Welfare Department.
