Agenzija Appogg had over 9,600 new referrals between 2004 and 2005 and dealt with over 14,500 cases since it was set up, the Foundation for Social Welfare Services’ chief executive Joe Gerada said yesterday.

Speaking at the launch of 2004-2005 biennial report of Agenzija Appogg, he said that by the end of December 2005, the overall total caseload of all services stood at 7,618, an increase of 19 per cent over 2003.

Over 1,000 clients (14 per cent of the current caseload) are on the waiting list for services.

Mr Gerada pointed out that although “during 2004/5 we have not experienced the exponential increase in caseload as seen in 2002/3, the demand for services has remained steady and consistent.”

Appogg Operations Director Yvonne Mallia said the effectiveness of the services on offer was reflected in the number of children and adults who come forward every year for help.

Over 30,000 cases were referred to services offered by Agenzija Appogg since it was set up in 1994 – 9,200 of these were child-related.

There were another 20,000 callers to the Appogg Supportline 179 during 2005.

Although the number of services increased over the past 12 years, over the past two years financial investment in the agency has been limited.

This resulted in high demands for the services, increasingly high caseloads, and long waiting lists in some service areas.

Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina said the baseline principle of any agency or person in authority is to protect children.

“It is clear that Appogg is associated with child protection services. However, this work would prove futile were it not complemented by other types of services offered by the agency,” she said.

Mr Gerada said that major developments had taken place during the past two years, that had enabled Appogg to be the key player in professional social welfare and generic and community services.

Appogg has stepped up its campaign on zero tolerance against abuse, to expose incidences of abuse and to tackle them through the services it provides, he added.

The initiatives introduced by Appogg include the development of new services such as Home-Start Malta, the Refugee Service and the National Hotline to report illegal and harmful online content.

There were improvements in court cases as well as in how the introduction of CCTV was helping to protect child witnesses in criminal proceedings from the perpetrator.

Other developments took place at governmental level: the Social Work Act, the Psychology Act, the Domestic Violence Act, and amendments to the Children and Young People Care Orders Regulation.

“Although the Domestic Violence Act was enacted last February, certain legislative decisions taken in the courts still do not reflect the spirit and thought behind the Act,” said Mrs Cristina.

In December 2005, there were 175 employees at Appogg, of whom 99 are social workers.