5 March 2008 MEDIA RELEASE INTER-MINISTRY COMMITTEE TO REVIEW HELP FOR DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN The Government has set up an Inter-Ministry Committee (IMC) to review the help for dysfunctional families with children. Every child is important, and children from dysfunctional homes are particularly vulnerable to falling behind in their development. Left without help, they may perpetuate an inter-generational cycle of dysfunctionality. The IMC will come up with recommendations to help these families so that they can overcome the challenges they face, and their children have a good chance to do well. Composition of the IMC 2 The IMC is chaired by the Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. The members of the Committee are Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee; Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon; Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Mr Masagos Zulkifli; Parliamentary Secretary for National Development, Dr Maliki Osman; as well as Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Mr Teo Ser Luck. 3 The IMC is supported by several government agencies, social work agencies, Self-Help Groups and other people sector representatives who work with dysfunctional families. (Please see Annex A for a full list of agencies involved) Key focus areas 4 Although many avenues of help are available for dysfunctional families, agencies involved in helping these families could be better coordinated, to ensure that families receive holistic assistance and develop long-term resilience. Hence, the IMC will focus on four key strategic thrusts. (i) Better identification of at-risk or dysfunctional families. The IMC is looking into improving co-ordination between the various touchpoints in the community that dysfunctional families may come into contact with. Examples of such touchpoints would include schools, and family service centres. The IMC will also look into the feasibiltiy of having a common screening tool to be used at these touchpoints. It is also studying the feasibiliy of having a common database for relevant information that may help to identify families that are dysfunctional and need help. Some groups at-risk of dysfunctionality include families with parents who are incarcerated, minor or serial marriages with children, and school drop-outs. (ii) Prevention. Identifying at-risk families early and giving them support will be an important step in ensuring that children from dysfunctional families have a chance to do better than their parents. There are several government initiatives that can benefit these families. These include the Healthy Start Programme (HSP), which provides intensive casework centred on the child; and the Home Ownership Plus Education Scheme (HOPE), which incentivises needy families to keep their family small so they can focus their resources on their children. The IMC is reviewing these initiatives to make them more effective. (iii) Effective intervention. The IMC is looking into strengthening specialised community agencies that can address specific issues faced by these families, such as substance addiction, family violence, gambling and minor marriages. Appropriate agencies in the community will be equipped to perform the role of case manager, to ensure that families receive holistic and family- centric help. (iv) Social service sector capability. The IMC is also looking into raising the capability of the social service sector, so that it can effectively deliver the programmes that will help dysfunctional families. It is working towards accrediting and ultimately licensing social workers, as experienced and professional social workers are needed to work with dysfunctional families. The structure of work in the social service sector will be reviewed, so that social workers can focus on providing professional help. At the same time, the IMC is also looking into benchmarking social worker salaries appropriately, so as to recognise and reward them for their contributions to society. 5 The IMC will consider taking a phased approach in the implementation of these initiatives, taking into consideration the existing capacities of the social service sector. Timeline 6 Public consultation will be carried out and the IMC’s recommendations are expected to be finalized by mid-2008. ISSUED BY MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS For media enquiries, please contact: Ng Lai Lian Manager Communications and International Relations Division, MCYS DID: 6354 8147 HP : 9090 3051 Fax: 6258 8605 Email: [email protected] Annex A Agencies Supporting the Inter-Ministry Committee on Dysfunctional Families • Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports • Ministry of Education • Ministry of Finance • Ministry of Health • Ministry of Home Affairs • Family and Juvenile Justice Centre • National Council of Social Service • People’s Association • Singapore Police Force • Singapore Prisons Service • Chinese Development Assistance Council • Eurasian Association • Singapore Indian Development Association • Yayasan Mendaki • As-Salaam PPIS Family Support Centre • Bukit Ho Swee Family Service Centre • Jamiyah Singapore • MILK Fund • National Family Council • Pasir Ris Family Service Centre • PPIS Jurong Family Service Centre • Singapore Children’s Society • Fei Yue Family Service Centre .