A. Halfway Institutions

Halfway institutions provide after-care participants who are homeless, temporarily unsuitable for returning home, or who voluntarily submit to drug rehabilitation programs with temporary accommodation, and provide them with employment, skills training and psychological counselling and guidance. The period of accommodation is generally set as 6 months (or 18 months for those who are undergoing drug rehabilitation program); this period may be extended to 3 to 6 months if accommodation is still necessary after expiry of the initial period. Meals and housing will be provided during this period, and day-to-day needs as well as petty cash will be provided each week depending on the circumstances. Those after-care participants who take drug rehabilitation programs will also be benefit by being kept from the temptation of drugs.

B. Skills Training

The rehabilitated will be assisted in learning new skills, as an extension of the corrective function of the prison. The Association proactively collaborates with social resources and various local vocational training institutions in providing vocational programs in computing, cooking, ceramics, beautician training, gardening, textile design, mechanics, architecture and advertising, thereby assisting the participant to rejoin the workforce or start his/her own business.

C. Exemption from Technical Accreditation Fee

In order to enable financially strained after-care participants to learn new skills and apply for technical accreditation examinations, the Association has collaborated with Workforce Development Agency in lobbying for a reduction of, or exemption from, the technical accreditation fee. This reduction or exemption has started since 2009; each after-care participant became entitled to one free accreditation in his/her lifetime. This policy was changed in 2010 where each participant is now entitled to one exemption from the technical accreditation fee for vocational skills in the same category, and three exemptions in total for vocational skills in different categories.

D. Joining the Workforce

The Association encourages and counsels after-care participants to start their own after-care businesses. The Association will offer partial loans to enable the after-care participant to start a business, with the loan to be repaid in instalments without interest within five years. The after-care participant must also employ other after-care participants in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement.

E. Collaborating with Social Welfare Institutions in Providing Accommodation

To expand its function as a halfway house, the Association actively solicits other relevant social welfare institutions in providing housing services. The collaborating institution would provide accommodation, counselling personnel and pay the costs for the counselling services, while the Association would bear the costs of meals and petty cash for the person being housed, as well as partially subsidize the administrative expenses.

• Types
• (A)Children and juveniles
• (B)Adults
• (C)Adults undergoing drug, or alcohol rehabilitation program
• (D)Others (such as AIDS halfway house or halfway house for psychological illnesses and drug rehabilitation)