Social services agency Appoġġ handles 10,000 cases every year, according to a report issued on Thursday by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services for the years 2014 to 2016.

CEO Alfred Grixti said that Sedqa – which handles substance abuse – sees 3,000 cases a year, while in 2016, the 11 LEAP community service centres made 3,200 family visits and compiled 8,000 profiles. These centres are aimed at reducing poverty among vulnerable families through employment and education.

He also said that 129 had been identified as having a “cocktail of problems” which was so complex that they had to be referred to home-based therapeutic services.

Commenting on the report as a whole, Mr Grixti said that the foundation assisted clients who came from all over the country, and that it was high time to dispel the perception that social cases came mainly from the south.

He also stressed that the survey showed that there was massive underreporting of cases in Gozo and that the foundation needed to boost its presence there.

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