Hong Kong

DePaul Family Services holds presentation at international event.
The 5th International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health was held from December 10-14 in Hong Kong.

Over 1,300 people from around the world participated in the conference and DePaul Family Services was honored to have Executive Director Sue Bentley be one of the presenters. Sue participated in a panel discussion about child wellfare. During her presentation, she was able to highlight the Piedmont Adoption Coalition project, which implemented the "success model" for improving adoption services. The PAC project was a joint effort between DePaul Family Services and the Piedmont Regional Adoption Group, which consists of the following Departments of Social Services: Amherst County, Bedford County, Campbell County, Danville City, Halifax County, Lynchburg City, and Pittsylvania County. The PAC project was funded through United Methodist Family Services' Quality Improvement Center (which is funded through a federal grant). United Methodist Family Services (UMFS) also sponsored Sue's trip to the conference.

One of the highlights of the conference for Sue was the day the attendees went into Hong Kong to see the services for individuals with mental health disabilities. Sue's group visited two half-way houses, a state Mental Health hospital, and two sheltered work shop programs for individuals with chronic mental illness. One of the work shop programs runs a restaurant, where the conference attendees ate lunch. The other work shop runs a cleaning service which competitively bids for jobs. One such job is cleaning the cars for the Hong Kong Police Department. According to Sue "Hong Kong has a very comprehensive program for people with mental illness. This plan goes beyond just initial treatment and really focuses on aftercare."

The week in Hong Kong wasn't all work and no play. Sue and Diane Hayes (Director of Community Services for UMFS) were able to do some sightseeing as well. One of their excursions took them to the World's Largest Sitting Buddha. "First we took a tram over the China Sea and then the mountains. As we reached the top of the mountain, we could see the silhouette of the Buddha. It was beautiful" said Sue. The trip also included the Symphony of Lights Cruise, which was a sightseeing cruise around the Victoria Harbour at night. During the tour, a 20 minute display of laser beams bouncing off the surrounding buildings was synchronized to music.

Even though they were away from home during the holiday season, the Christmas Spirit was never far from Sue and Diane. "Everywhere we looked, we saw Christmas decorations. There were trees, holiday neon signs, and Santa Clauses all over" said Sue. They visited Santa's Town, which was a Christmas Wonderland that was set up for the holidays. Featured at Santa's Town were Nativity Scenes from around the world and local children performing folk dances.