President Edward Fenech Adami yesterday paid an official visit to the offices of Agenzija Appogg on the occasion of its 12th anniversary.

A total of 30,000 cases have been referred for the services offered by Agenzija Appogg since it was set up in 1994.

CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Joe Gerada, said the investment in human resources had enabled the agency to improve its quality of care and therefore the response of the public has increased considerably.

He said the agency’s major concern was that current resources did not match the demands placed on the agency and therefore people including children had to wait, until they were served with a service.

Appogg was fulfilling an important social welfare role, he said, and often its staff and services were at the frontline of major issues facing the country.

Operations director, Yvonne Mallia, said the agency was geared to focus on the client and therefore management and staff continuously evaluated the changing needs of the clients and adjusted accordingly.

She highlighted the pressing needs of children in terms of placements in residential care, support to increase the number of foster carers and the corresponding need for emergency and specialised foster placements. She reiterated the need for generic services particularly targeting parents experiencing problems with parenting and the need for social work services in courts, assisting the judiciary in separation and child abuse cases.

A teenage boy currently under foster care presented a painting to the president. The painting portrays his experience with the Appogg fostering service and his present situation within his foster family.