Family Life Education Series
Mutual Support for Families: A Caring Workforce

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In the past few months, we have published the stories of five police officers who are having children with special needs, either physically or mentally handicapped. We can see that these officers are optimistic and striving to take care of their children and love their families as well.

With the assistance of the Welfare Services Group, the Support Group for Parents with Special Needs Children was established in 2004 with the aim of encouraging mutual support. It has more than 30 group members now. As the group grows in maturity, various activities and home visits, as well as volunteer services, have been provided for members in need.

Various people have given support to the Support Group for Parents with Special Needs Children, and the followings are their observations of the support group:

Miss Chan Ying-har of the Heep Hong Society commented: "Police itself is a helping profession. It gives the impression of being tough and masculine, and weakness and grief seem to be unacceptable. For those officers with special needs children, they could hardly share their difficulties and worries with their colleagues and commanders . Sharing amongst group members is thus helpful."

"The spirit of mutual support and helping others to help themselves is fully noted by this group," said Ms Pauline Ng, Personnel Services and Staff Relations (PS & SR) Branch Chief Superintendent, when she was interviewed by group members.

"Sharing among group members serves as a healing process for members," said Mr Charlie Cheung, New Territories North Regional Commander, when he expressed appreciation of the support group's work during an interview. Mr Cheung is also the Chief Co-ordinator of the Hong Kong Police Volunteer Services Corps.

The Force is a caring organisation, realising that a happy staff is essential to maintaining law and order. Staff members understand that the management not only cares about them but also their families as well. From the management point of view, this genuine concern for officers with children of special needs would bring forth unexpected positive outcome in staff output and team spirit. The five police officers who have shared their experiences with us have conveyed the message that they love their families as well as the Force. They have demonstrated that they will work hard and contribute to serve others. In the long run, the Force will definitely benefit from fostering a culture of caring among its officers.

PS&SR Branch Welfare Services Group