Masagos Zulkifli B M M
Singapore
“Coordination between Early Intervention (EI) centres, families and preschools is important for the continuity of support for children with developmental needs.”
“The Taxi Subsidy Scheme supports persons with disabilities (PwDs) who are unable to take public transport, by providing means-tested subsidies to offset the cost of taxi travel to school, work and employment-related training supported by SG Enable.”
“The Skills and Salary Guidelines published by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) guides social service agencies (SSAs) to pay their employees fair and competitive remuneration and maintain the sector's attractiveness. The Guidelines are adjusted so that salaries remain competitive with comparable roles in competing markets.”
“Staff turnover rates vary across social service agencies (SSAs). An individual's decision to leave an organisation is influenced by a myriad of factors, of which pay is only one.”
“Beyond the requirement of a structured daily programme, community-based SCFA administrators have the flexibility to offer programmes and additional enrichment activities that meet the needs of their students. MSF does not track staff salaries and turnover of SCCs in general nor those that administer SCFA.”
“Male preschool educators comprised about 1% of the early childhood workforce in each of the last five years. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has not issued guidelines pertaining to the rules set by preschool centres specific to the conduct of male preschool educators.”
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“One such example is Scribe, a tool developed by Open Government Products that translates and summarises conversations in multiple languages and transforms transcripts into structured notes. Just over the past year, over 100 SSAs have adopted Scribe. We have heard from many social workers that Scribe has saved a lot of time and allowed them to focus on what they care about most – their clients. For the early childhood sector, Mr Melvin Yong will be pleased to know that under the refreshed Industry Digital Plan, ECDA will be supporting preschools to adopt AI-enabled tools, including AI video analytics solutions. Specifically, these tools will support preschool educators and leaders in tasks such as curriculum planning, portfolio management and reviewing closed-circuit television footages. Ultimately, our goal is to ease our professionals' workload, enhance their well-being and improve care and education of our children. At MSF, we have also similarly incorporated AI and technology solutions to support our officers in their work. For example, in our Youth Homes, time-consuming processes such as filling out paperwork and cross-referencing files are now digitalised under the Home Central Information System. Officers also use AI tools such as Pair and AIBots that generate first drafts to help officers work more efficiently. Taken together, Youth Guidance Officers such as Mr Rayner Hoe, now have more bandwidth to engage with youths, which is the most fulfilling part of the job. Beyond these examples, there is still much more potential for technology to be harnessed to improve the quality of life for our professionals. But I will now turn to our clients.”
“I am excited by the new opportunities that such partnerships bring, so that we can do better by and for our people. Before I go to the third "C", let me touch on our professionals. Professionals are the backbone of our sector. To enable them to deliver their best, we must first ensure that they are well-supported and cared for. Mr Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari asked about support for professionals' development and well-being. SSAs can leverage training subsidies and sponsorships under the Professional Capability Grant to support staff development and upskilling. Recently, we enhanced the schemes to benefit more professionals to support their development and retention. Eligible social service professionals may also tap on the Sabbatical Leave Scheme, which gives them 10 weeks of paid leave to recharge and refresh. For protection practitioners, we launched the Protection Practitioners Care Fund to enable SSAs to implement well-being initiatives and practices to support them even better. Officers at MSF can access Well-being@Gov, which provides well-being resources, coaching and counselling services. hose in the Protective Services receive additional support including clinical supervision and peer support groups. But support for our professionals does not stop here. We will leverage AI and technology tools to enhance their quality of life while making work more impactful. This is how the third "C" comes in – co-creation. Co-creating innovations of tomorrow that will improve the quality of life for social sector professionals and clients. As the sector developer, NCSS is working closely with public and private sector agencies to develop and drive the adoption of AI and technology solutions across the sector.”
“Because we need to work together with others, beyond our shores, in strengthening families, early childhood development and social mobility. We seek to do this at Government, academia as well as practitioner levels. This is because challenges confronting Singapore are not unique. By cooperating with like-minded partners, we can exchange ideas and evolve best practices to better serve our respective clients. One initiative involves our regional neighbours: Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand. They have been keen to learn from our experience in setting up the ECDA and the KidSTART programme. Last month, we launched the Capability Exchange Programme to create opportunities for learning and exchanges among government officials and practitioners from these countries. This programme will establish strong networks and foster cross-sharing of evidence-based approaches to benefit young children and families. Other platforms include conferences where researchers and policy-makers can interact and germinate ideas and relationships. Last year, MSF and IPS co-organised the inaugural International Conference on Societies of Opportunity (ICSO), bringing together local and international thought leaders to discuss how we can better create opportunities and strengthen social mobility for our people. We will further such collaborations at ICSO in 2027. We also organised the biennial Asian Family Conference, a dedicated regional policy-practice-research platform to discuss emerging family trends, policies and practices. Later this year, we will share findings of the inaugural regional collaboration between Singapore and ASEAN member states that will enable us and our regional partners to better support families in our respective countries.”
“In the meantime, we will make and continue to make family counselling more accessible and provide self-help resources online to better support families. Third, we are collaborating with corporates for more impactful philanthropy. In 2024, MSF and National Council of Social Service (NCSS) launched the Sustainable Philanthropy Framework to encourage corporates to integrate social impact with their business goals and engage in more consistent giving and volunteering. I am heartened that many corporates have adopted this framework. For instance, DBS has pledged up to $1 billion and 1.5 million employee volunteer hours over the next decade to better support those with less means, including $6.5 million to KidSTART, and $30 million to the ComLink+ Progress Packages. DBS has also embedded giving into their corporate culture and we hope more organisations will do the same. 7.30 pm Fourth, we are collaborating on research and programme evaluation to build a strong evidence base for tomorrow's solutions. We work with various IHLs to build up our knowledge base of what works best in Singapore. Mr Xie called for longitudinal research to understand better the drivers of social mobility. We agree, which is why we have collaborated with the IPS on a longitudinal study called Pathways and Trajectories of Households in Singapore to better understand this. Other partnerships include evaluating effectiveness of ComLink+ Progress Packages with IPS and the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Through these collaborations, we hope that our IHLs will build renowned experts and an impactful body of knowledge on support for families and thereby lead in this field. The second "C" stands for cooperate; and in this context, cooperating with regional and international partners.”
“Today, only residents 40 and above can enrol in Healthier SG. From 2027, MOH will extend Healthier SG enrolment to eligible ComLink+ residents age 25 to 39. With this, more ComLink+ residents can benefit from personalised care from a trusted family doctor, subsidies for screening tests as well as vaccinations. They will also be able to access Health Promotion Board programmes via the Healthy 365 app. We will share more details in due course. Second, we are collaborating with SSAs to support families. Families may require support in navigating conflict. For example, MSF works closely with SSAs under the Strengthening Family Programme, which provides counselling support for them. Over the past decade, we have worked closely with the Family Justice Court to adopt a therapeutic justice model in resolving familial disputes so that the family can benefit from a restorative, holistic and forward-looking approach. We have expanded our support for couples going through divorce, which Ms Diana Pang spoke about. Since July 2024, all couples with minor children must go through the co-parenting programme run by Strengthening Family Programme centres, and that is before they filed for divorce. We hope this will prevent disagreements later over child access. But if such disagreements arise, couples can still approach the Family Justice Court for mediation or apply for a child access order or to enforce an access order. We want to encourage more couples to seek help early and not only at the point of divorce. Therefore, MSF will work with Strengthening Family Programme centres to ramp up family counselling capacity. By 2030, we will be able to serve 12,000 cases, double of today's caseload. Members of the public will be able to access both in-person and online counselling services.”
“By harnessing their strengths and assets, individuals and families are and can be empowered to achieve good outcomes. Fourth, we work with the whole-of-society to weave a strong ecosystem of support. MSF has been working alongside our social service agencies (SSAs), corporates, institutes of higher learnings (IHLs) and the community to better understand clients' needs, finetune our policies and programmes and to journey with our clients. Such strong partnership is key. When we work together, we unlock new synergies, spark innovation and build better solutions for our clients. To build a better tomorrow for all families, we will further strengthen these partnerships. We will do this through the following "3Cs": collaborating with our partners, cooperating with regional and international counterparts in shared priority areas and co-creating to develop innovations of tomorrow. Let me elaborate. The first "C" refers to working collaboratively with partners to better serve families and individuals. In recent years, we have stepped up collaboration with sector partners to make a greater impact. We will continue to invest in such collaborations and especially with four key groups: Government agencies, SSAs, corporates and IHLs. First, we are collaborating with Government agencies to better support lower-income families and improve social mobility, a key concern raised by Mr Xie Yao Quan. In 2025, MSF trialed the social health integration model with MOH for ComLink+ families to ensure that health challenges do not hinder their social mobility. Under this model, family coaches and healthcare staff came together to support families to adopt healthy lifestyles and to access suitable services. Later this year, we will bring more ComLink+ families on board this trial.”
“Chairman, I thank Members for their views. MSF aims to foster a Singapore society where all families are supported at every stage of their life to thrive on their terms. Before I elaborate on our approach, let me outline what my colleagues will share. Minister of State Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim will detail enhancements to support lower-income families, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua will elaborate on our efforts for families with PwDs and Minister of State Goh Pei Ming will touch on how we will strengthen support for families. At MSF, our policies are anchored on four core principles: family centricity, proactive and upstream intervention, strength-based approached and whole-of-society partnership. These principles are enduring, even as we face increasingly complex issues. First, we prioritise family centricity because the family is the basic unit of our society that provides emotional support and imparts values. Working with individuals may address immediate symptoms, but it does not tackle issues at its roots. We must build strong family relationship in order to bring about sustainable change. This is why, for all children, we seek to set good foundations for optimal health and development within family relationships and environments. For ComLink+ families, we develop a holistic action plan with the family after assessing their needs. For PwDs, we do not neglect the well-being of caregivers and family members. Our second principle is proactive and upstream intervention. We strive to provide early support to build strong foundations and address root causes before they escalate. Third, we focus on the strength of our clients rather than their deficits.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) studied the utilisation rates of Child Development Account (CDA) monies for the birth cohorts from 2008 to 2011, across income bands from the time the child is zero to 12 years old. Most parents saved close to the Government co-matching caps to maximise the Government co-matching for the first two birth orders across all income bands. However, lower-income families tended to save lower than the Government co-matching caps from the third child onwards. Consequently, the CDA accounts of children from lower income bands also have less balances compared to the other income bands at the point of account closure when the children turn 12 years old. The income data used in the study was based on the parents' declaration at the point of application and family circumstances could have changed over time. The cohorts studied also do not qualify for First Step Grant and the ComLink+ Package for Preschool, as these schemes were introduced after 2011 and may influence savings and utilisation behaviour especially in low-income families. MSF has not conducted a study on differences in utilisation rate of the CDA monies across caregiving circumstances.”
“An average of 70 preschools per year, or 3.8%, of total preschools per year, have ceased operations in the last three years. In the event of a cessation, preschools are expected to assist parents in securing alternative care arrangements to minimise disruption of children's care and manage any outstanding financial matters, such as refunds of fees and deposits to parents. Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has powers under the ECDC Act to issue directions to preschools to ensure the orderly cessation of the operation of such centres, with minimal disruption to the children attending the affected centres. ECDA may also assist affected parents who require help with alternative preschool placement. Parents who require further assistance with matters concerning deposit or fee refunds may seek assistance from the Consumer Association of Singapore or approach the Small Claims Tribunal.”
“The 2025 Street Count of Rough Sleepers report by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) found that around 500 individuals sleeping rough on a single night. MSF recognises that certain life transitions can be stress points and increase vulnerability for some individuals. These could be strained relationships, problems with securing or keeping housing, financial issues, incarceration or a combination of the above. Part of our approach is therefore upstream, to reach out to and provide support to those who need assistance during the transitions when they may be more vulnerable. For instance, individuals undergoing divorce may access support, such as counselling and financial guidance, through the Family Service Centres. If there are housing concerns, they are guided on available public housing options and interim support. Persons released from incarceration are supported through coordinated reintegration efforts, including case management and transitional programmes, led by community partners and relevant agencies. Those without viable accommodation are linked to appropriate assistance. Individuals facing eviction or institutional discharge are similarly supported through casework interventions, financial assistance schemes and referrals to temporary shelter options where necessary. We will continue to refine our inter-agency efforts to reduce incidences of rough sleeping in Singapore, including further upstream efforts to work with various Government agencies to identify at-risk persons or families.”
“Instead of having to take on the burden of searching and assessing the disability services and providers in the market, PwDs and their caregivers can also receive support via SG Enable to navigate the range of services and be referred to the Government-supported disability services appropriate to the PwDs' need from the pool of appointed service providers. Providing disability services through portable subsidies and free market competition among service providers alone may lead to suboptimal provision of services and cost escalation. This is because not all PwDs and their families have the professional knowledge or the bandwidth to determine the specialised interventions they need from the services offered by service providers. We may also see inequitable access to disability services especially for PwDs with more complex or specialised needs, as service providers will find it more efficient to serve larger segments of PwDs with lower or common support needs due to the specialised capabilities and costs involved in serving smaller segments of PwDs with more complex or specialised needs.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) aims to provide persons with disabilities (PwDs) access to safe and effective disability services appropriate for their needs, while keeping service costs sustainable and fees affordable for families with PwDs. Our approach to providing Government support for disability services, such as Day Activity Centres and Adult Disability Homes, achieve these objectives through the appointment of disability providers and the use of enrolment-based subsidies. First, MSF appoints disability service providers to deliver Government-funded services based on various factors. These factors include their capabilities and track record in delivering safe and effective specialised intervention and care services for PwDs, while keeping service costs reasonable through the selection process. Appointed service providers are required to abide by service model requirements and standards and are subject to regular audits. In addition, MSF, together with SG Enable and the National Council of Social Service, works closely with the disability sector to enhance the range of disability services, build capabilities and encourage fundraising and volunteer participation from the wider community to ensure that PwDs' needs can be met sustainably. Second, PwDs enrolling in Government-supported disability services are provided with means-tested subsidies to defray the cost of services. This enrolment-based subsidies will follow the beneficiary, should they enrol with a different appointed service provider.”
“Approximately 10% of families engaged remain unresponsive to us, although we have tried to contact them at least a few times through various means, such as calls, texts or home visits. The Social Service Offices collaborate with community partners, like schools, grassroots organisations, hospitals and Social Service Agencies, who may have established better rapport with these families, to facilitate engagement of the family, including the children (if any). Where there are concerns with potential abuse or domestic violence, Family Service Centres can invoke powers under the Children and Young Persons Act or Women's Charter to compel access to the children. The Ministry of Social and Family Development's Protective Service may also be engaged to assess the case and determine the appropriate intervention.”
“ComLink+ supports lower-income households in achieving outcomes in Stability, Self-reliance and Social Mobility (3S). The goal is ultimately for the families to make progress across six domains: income security, children's development and education, housing, family functioning, financial resilience and health. While the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) does not formally collect feedback from ComLink+ families on their experience with their family coaches, any families with specific feedback can provide them to their SSOs. New family coaches are put through structured foundational training to build competencies in family assessment frameworks, engagement techniques (including motivational interviewing and cultural competency) and stakeholder collaboration. MSF has also developed a Practice Guide to codify good practices when working with ComLink+ families. Family coaches endeavour to adopt a firm yet empathetic approach while providing support to help families progress towards their goals. This approach focuses on achieving effective interventions and sustainable outcomes.”
“As of January 2026, 21% of Singapore Citizens who are 50 years old and above have made a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). Of these, majority (74%) are aged between 50 and 75. Our survey on the Legacy Planning campaign showed that digital approaches, like social media campaigns, are most impactful in driving engagement and correcting misconceptions for those aged between 30 and 49, while the traditional media, such as newspapers, is more effective in raising awareness for those aged 50 and above. To increase uptake, apart from continuing publicity campaigns through social media and traditional media, the Ministry of Social and Family Development is expanding collaborations with partners, such as financial institutions, social service agencies and community organisations, to promote and facilitate LPA applications. We are also reaching out to individuals who have yet to make their LPAs, with curated messages to nudge them towards making their LPA early.”
“When the Social Service Office comes to know that clients have mental health concerns, they will refer them to community mental health teams to provide the necessary assessments and interventions. However, it is not part of the ComCare assessment process to require applicants to provide information on their mental health. To do so may deter those who need support from applying.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) does not track the number of children at risk of developmental delays and behavioural issues due to ill treatment by caregivers. The Anchor Programme is an initiative of the KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), which sees children from across Singapore and is not geographically bound. The Protective Service works with KKH to ensure that the statutory intervention is coordinated with the interventions in KKH. We welcome other hospitals to consider similar programmes, if they see a need amongst their patients.”
“The out-of-pocket fee structure for Day Activity Centres (DACs) is not binary, but rather, tiered based on per capita household income. Clients can enrol in DACs on a part-time basis and pay pro-rated out-of-pocket fees.”
“Town Councils were established to control, manage, maintain and improve the common property of Housing and Development Board housing estates. While Social Service Agencies funded by the Ministry of Social and Family Development can work with Town Councils on estate management issues, this does not include outreach, community engagement and service delivery which fall outside the scope of the Town Council's mandate.”
“The removal of the requirement for childcare centres to operate on Saturdays from January 2025 was a carefully considered decision after extensive engagements with early childhood educators, preschool operators and parents. Of surveyed families using preschool services, more than 99% did not require Saturday childcare services or could make alternative care arrangements and less than 1% had both parents who worked on Saturdays and did not have alternative care arrangements. We recognise the challenges that parents face in balancing their caregiving and work commitments. For parents who require caregiving support on weekends, there are alternative caregiving arrangements available, including paid and community-based options, such as babysitting services. Employers also have a part to play, by providing a family-friendly work environment that supports working parents in balancing their caregiving and work commitments. For example, the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests, which took effect on 1 December 2024 and sets out the process for employees to request one-off or more sustained arrangements to meet their caregiving needs, was introduced to support all workers, including parents, to better manage their work and caregiving responsibilities in a sustainable manner.”
“We thank the Member for the supplementary questions. We have not done any correlation or impact study on wage adherence with turnover. But certainly, case load has a strong impact on possible turnover; and it is something that we always are mindful of, and we make sure that the case load and the funding and the number of social workers that each programme needs would be commensurate. Of course, we will listen to the ground when there are specific areas which need more resources or more intents by nature of the locality. We will then support, perhaps even a bespoke way. For smaller communities, certainly, they have overheads, like every other SSAs, but they may have a smaller programme funding possibility. And therefore we are engaging them regularly to make sure that they are keeping up and also can tap on a number of resources that are available to upgrade, improve HR practices, for example, and even tap on expertise, which may be available for free from corporates who provide them as part of their pro bono services, or part of their corporate social responsibility services.”
“Mr Speaker, currently, about 80% of employees in social service agencies (SSAs) are paid according to the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) Sector Skills and Salary Guidelines, which I will call "salary guidelines" from now on. Over the years, the Ministry for Social and Family Development (MSF) has reviewed and raised the salary guidelines so that wages in the social service sector remain competitive against comparable roles in competing markets. Correspondingly, MSF adjusts programme funding to enable funded SSAs to pay employees according to the latest guidelines. SSAs should also review and adjust their operational budgets, so they can sustainably meet operational needs. Our data suggests that SSAs have generally been keeping pace with these updates to the salary guidelines. Over the past three years, MSF and NCSS have worked with SSAs to progressively improve adherence to the salary guidelines. Beyond current efforts, such as supporting SSAs in enhancing their human resources (HR) practices, we engage SSA leaders on their organisations' salary adherence and benchmark them to their peers. In the next few years, we will further step up measures to increase adherence.”
“The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is unable to track the number of aborted or unsuccessful Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Form 1 applications. Members of public may not report to OPG when they abort an application or encounter technical problems. If the OPG Online system (OPGO) is unavailable for prolonged periods, donors can submit a hardcopy LPA application. If needed, they can seek help in filling up the forms at ServiceSG centres. To improve system resilience, OPG has implemented measures, such as building OPGO on the Government Commercial Cloud and increasing database capacity, in anticipation of surges in application volume before the fee waiver expiry. We will continue to explore measures to improve system resilience as needed.”
“The number of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) made increased from 350,000 in August 2025 to 410,000 in January 2026. The Ministry of Social and Family Development has no updates at the moment on a further extension of the waiver of LPA Form 1 fees. We encourage all Singaporeans to make their LPA as soon as possible to take advantage of the waiver before it expires on 31 Mar 2026.”
“Under Special Approval, non-working applicants can receive subsidy support equivalent to what a working applicant can receive under extenuating circumstances. From 2023 to 2025, common reasons cited in applications include needing to care for other dependants, seeking employment, undergoing training/skills upgrading, pregnancy and illness. From 2023 to 2025, around 3% of all recipients of Basic and Additional Subsidy applied for Special Approval. The approval rate for applications have remained high at around nine in 10. To better support lower-income families, we have extended full childcare subsidies to families with a monthly household income of $6,000 or below for their income tier, regardless of the applicant's working status. Additionally, families under the Housing and Development Board's Public Rental Scheme and the Ministry of Social and Family Development's ComCare schemes have been automatically eligible for maximum preschool subsidies, regardless of the applicant's working status.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) is ramping up the capacity of Day Activity Centres (DACs) by 500 places, as announced in MSF's Committee of Supply (COS) in 2024. More details will be shared at a later date. Government funding for DACs is tiered according to the care needs of the client, with more resources provided to support clients with higher needs, such as those with moderate to severe autism. Also, as announced in MSF's COS in 2025, the long-term care subsidies will be enhanced from July 2026, and will benefit families tapping on long-term care and adult disability services, including DACs and transport. This is in addition to the enhanced subsidies for Assistive Technology Fund which took effect in January 2026. For suitable individuals on the waitlist, SG Enable facilitates referrals to other facilities with available capacity and supports continued engagement through activities at the Enabling Services Hubs, and the Supported Transition and Engagement Programme for graduates of special education schools. Caregivers may also tap on subsidised respite services through the Take-A-Break (TAB) programme.”
“In general, social workers supporting children who present with vaping or etomidate-laced vape addiction, including children placed in residential homes under Family Guidance Orders, have access to specialised support services, such as training in managing substance abuse and substance addiction recovery.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development currently does not track data for spousal abuse by age, sex and type of abuse. We are working with community agencies to collect more granular data on spousal abuse. Self-referrals constituted a significant proportion of spousal abuse cases managed by Family Service Centres, where clients sought help on their own. The Member may wish to refer to the Domestic Violence Trends Report 2025 for details.”
“Spousal abuse cases are managed by Protection Specialist Centres (PSCs) and Family Service Centres (FSCs). Currently, there is no detailed breakdown of spousal abuse cases, such as the number of counter-reports or cross complaints, due to differences in how agencies record data. Practitioners in PSCs and FSCs apply professional frameworks and practice guidelines to assess domestic violence dynamics. This includes conducting structured interviews with involved parties, reviewing prior reports and case histories and undertaking relevant checks where appropriate. These processes enable professionals to make objective, evidence-informed assessments without pre-judgement, thereby reducing the risk of abusers misusing counter-reports as a coercive control tactic. Members of the public who are experiencing abuse or who know someone in an abusive relationship are encouraged to seek help early by contacting the National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline at 1800-777-0000 or by making an online report.”
“The adoption process is designed to safeguard the child's welfare and applies consistently, including for unmarried mothers seeking to adopt their biological children. The adoption process involves legal and administrative steps that are necessary given the permanent legal implications, such as the termination of the birth father's legal rights and the ability of the child to seek maintenance from that parent under the Women's Charter. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) acknowledges that the adoption process may present challenges for some unmarried mothers, particularly those with limited financial resources. These mothers may get means-tested fee waivers for MSF-administered processes and seek the Legal Aid Bureau's assistance with Court fees and legal costs or choose to represent themselves in Court proceedings.”
“The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) requires deputies appointed by the Courts under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) to submit annual reports. The reports must provide an account of decisions made by the deputies for the mentally incapacitated person including how they have managed the property and affairs. This will be used to assess the deputies' compliance with the Court orders and whether they have fulfilled their responsibilities under the MCA. If OPG suspects potential ill-treatment or abuse of persons who have lost mental capacity, whether through the deputy reports or through whistleblowing, it will investigate and conduct further checks as necessary. This includes assigning a Board of Visitor, comprising of medical professionals and elder care practitioners, to assess the person's condition and standard of care. Donees or deputies who do not adhere to good practices in managing the property and affairs of the person under a Lasting Power of Attorney or deputyship are placed under closer supervision by OPG, to ensure compliance with their responsibilities. Where there is evidence of fraud or financial mismanagement, OPG may apply to the Court to suspend or revoke the appointment of the errant donee or deputy and require him or her to make restitution to the mentally incapacitated person who has suffered loss. OPG may also refer appropriate cases to the police for criminal action to be taken.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) does not systematically track the prevalence of food insecurity in Singapore. There are some occasional global publications, such as the Food Insecurity Experience Scale by the Food and Agriculture Organization. The measured levels for Singapore are comparable to those of high-income economies, although like the experience of other economies, there has been an increase in recent years. Our approach is to ensure the availability of financial support if households are in need. Social Service Offices (SSOs) provide ComCare assistance to support families to meet basic living needs, including food-related expenditures. SSOs may also link applicants up with other forms of support, including those that do not qualify for ComCare. There are also efforts by food charities, volunteer groups, grassroots organisations and corporates to provide food support to households in need. That said, MSF regularly reviews the range of measurements it tracks, in order to better identify needs and groups that need more support. We will include food security as one of the possible areas to consider for more systematic measurement.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) appoints and funds Social Service Agencies to operate Adult Disability Homes and Day Activity Centres. We tap on these service providers' specialised knowledge of disabilities, operational expertise and community networks, to deliver services tailored to the needs of persons with disabilities and their caregivers. Appointed service providers are required to abide by service model requirements and standards. Additionally, the Social Residential Homes Act was passed in 2025, establishing a common regulatory framework for social residential homes and codifying the good practices that have been established in raising the quality of care in our homes over the years. At this point in time, we do not have plans to establish Government-operated Adult Disability Homes and Day Activity Centres. MSF closely monitors the demand and supply across disability programmes to ensure needs continue to be met. For Adult Disability Homes, MSF will be adding a new facility by 2030 to expand capacity. SG Enable also works with the appointed Social Service Agencies running the homes to optimise placements and ensure cases with urgent needs are prioritised. In parallel, we are piloting community-based support services to provide alternatives to residential care, such as the Enabled Living Programme. For Day Activity Centres, MSF is progressively increasing the capacity by 500 places by 2030, up from the current 1,800 places. For suitable individuals on the waitlist, SG Enable facilitates referrals to other facilities with available capacity and supports continued engagement through activities at the Enabling Services Hubs and the Supported Transition and Engagement Programme for graduates of special education schools.”
“About one-third of individuals enrolled in day activity centres, or around 500 individuals, have at least one caregiver aged 65 and above. Our aim is to enable persons with disabilities to live and age in the community for as long as they are able. Thus, we are piloting community-based support services to provide alternatives to residential care, such as the Enabled Living Programme pilot launched in 2025 and the upcoming Home Support Programme pilot. Through the Enabling Skills for Life Programme proof-of-concept, we also aim to support persons with disabilities to access living skills and vocational training and build up skills for independence. Admission into adult disability homes is considered as a last resort for adults with disabilities who have no alternative accommodation. As of December 2025, over 1,000 persons with disabilities reside in 11 Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF)-funded adult disability homes, most of which operate at utilisation rates of over 80%. MSF continues to monitor and plan ahead with our partners to ensure that we have sufficient capacity to meet projected demand. More information and support for future care planning can be accessed through SG Enable, including via the Enabling Guide, which serves as a first-stop online resource for information on disability in Singapore. Caregivers may also tap on community support networks, such as CaringSG, and a range of caregiver-led initiatives supported by SG Enable for peer support and practical guidance.”
“The Inclusive Support Programme (InSP) serves children requiring medium levels of early intervention (EI) support, and who are suited to receive EI in a preschool group setting. The InSP evaluation study found that children with developmental needs in InSP preschools made significant progress in all domains of their development, narrowing the gap with their typically developing peers. Typically developing children in InSP preschools also demonstrated significant cognitive gains. In the inclusive environment, more meaningful interactions between children and greater acceptance of peers with different abilities were observed. Given these promising findings, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will progressively add about 600 more InSP places from 2026 onwards. As part of the InSP, ECDA sets general guidelines on environmental modifications in preschools, such as therapy rooms and accessible toilets, to cater to children with developmental needs. Beyond these, InSP preschool operators can make specific modifications based on children's individual needs, such as providing frequency modulation systems to children who are deaf or hard of hearing. ECDA provides funding for InSP preschools to facilitate their provision of such modifications. Beyond the funding provided to InSP preschools, families can also tap on the Ministry of Social and Family Development's Assistive Technology Fund, which provides a means-tested subsidy of up to 90% of the cost to acquire, replace or repair assistive devices. Families can also tap on Child Development Account funds to purchase, maintain or repair assistive technology devices from approved providers.”
“Employers who hire resident persons with disabilities earning less than $4,000 per month are eligible for the Enabling Employment Credit and will be automatically enrolled in the scheme based on their Central Provident Fund contributions to these employees. The Member may refer to the written reply we had given on 14 October 2025 on addressing challenges that prevent special needs young adults from securing and retaining employment, which mentions the barriers faced by employers in hiring persons with disabilities and measures put in place to support them and persons with disabilities. [Please refer to "Addressing Challenges that Prevent Special Needs Young Adults from Securing and Retaining Employment", Official Report, 14 October 2025, Vol 96, Issue 7, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.] The Taskforce on Assurance for Families with Persons with Disabilities, announced in December 2025, will also study and develop recommendations to further strengthen support for employers and build resilience for persons with disabilities in the workplace. Taken together, these measures will support our continued efforts to raise the employment rate of resident persons with disabilities aged 15 to 64 to 40% by 2030, from 34.7% for the period of 2024 to 2025.”
“Singapore agencies are working closely with the relevant Indonesian authorities on the recent alleged child trafficking cases. When the facts are clearer, the Ministry of Social and Family Development will review whether existing adoption processes should be enhanced. In doing so, we will take a calibrated and proportionate approach as there are trade-offs. More stringent checks may lengthen processing times or render overseas adoption infeasible in some cases and may unfairly affect the majority of adoptions where there is no indication of illegality.”
“Under the Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDC) Act, Regulations and Code of Practice, licensees are required to provide at least six months' notice to parents and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). Operators that breach these requirements may face regulatory actions, including warning letters, financial penalties or being barred from applying for future preschool licences. An average of 26 preschools per year have failed to give at least six months' notice before ceasing operations in the past five years. ECDA takes such regulatory breaches seriously and will continue to reiterate the need to meet the regulatory requirements to all operators. In cases of abrupt cessations, ECDA's priority is on the continuity of care for children. We will take steps to mitigate their impact on children and parents, such as assisting affected parents who require help with the placement of their children in alternative preschools.”
“There are 1,410 trusts that have been set up under the Special Needs Trust Company's (SNTC's) trust services, as of 31 December 2025. SNTC does not collect income data from every client as income is not a pre-requisite for opening a trust account with SNTC. Chinese clients hold the largest proportion of SNTC trust accounts, followed by Malays and Indians. More can be done to raise awareness and encourage more families to take up SNTC's trust services. As announced at Budget 2025, the Government will be providing a dollar-for-dollar matching grant of up to $10,000 to encourage lower- and middle-income caregivers of persons with disabilities to set up and top up their SNTC trust accounts. The grant will be launched later this year and more details will be announced soon.”
“We have no updates on a further extension of the waiver of the Lasting Powers of Attorney Form 1 filing fees. We encourage all citizens to make their LPAs as soon as possible, to take advantage of the waiver before it expires on 31 Mar 2026.”
“The Member may wish to refer to the Domestic Violence Trends Report 2025 for available sex-disaggregated data. From 2020 to 2024, there was an average of about 2,000 Personal Protection Order applications per year, of which, approximately 25% were made by male victim-survivors of domestic violence.”
“When parents are unable or unwilling to care for their children as a result of protection concerns, incarceration or other circumstances that render them incapable of providing safe care, the children are placed temporarily in out-of-home care. This may include family-based care, such as foster or kinship care, or residential care, until it is assessed to be safe for them to return to their families. As of 2024, there were a total of 1,454 children in out-of-home care, of whom 386 children were placed in kinship care.”
“All school-based Student Care Centres are registered with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). As for centres which are not school-based, they are only required to register with MSF if they wish to administer the Student Care Fee Assistance scheme. The general regulatory regime for all Student Care Centres and their staff, irrespective of whether they administer Student Care Fee Assistance, is that they must comply with the prevailing laws, including the Children and Young Persons Act. MSF will continue to monitor the existing regulatory framework for student care centres and, if necessary, to enhance it.”
“Based on data between 2020 and 2024, there is an average of 83,000 single-parent resident households. Among these single-parent households, 58% are divorced or separated, 39% widowed and 3% are never-married parents, while 54% of these households have one child, 35% have two children, and 11% have three or more children living in the same household. The Member may wish to refer to the SingStat website for yearly statistics of single-parent households by the age of the single parents, and age band of the youngest child.”
“Adoptive parents can submit a citizenship application for the adopted child after the adoption order is granted by the Court. The process to assess a citizenship application takes time, as all citizenship applications are assessed on a range of criteria, including the circumstances of the applicant and the family. Subsidies at our Public Healthcare Institutions and coverage under MediShield Life, our national healthcare insurance scheme, are reserved for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. All foreigners are not eligible for these, regardless of whether they were adopted or not. Nevertheless, Singaporean adoptive parents who face financial challenges with their foreign child's medical bills may approach the medical social workers in our Public Healthcare Institutions for financial assistance. Once the child is granted Singapore Citizenship, the levy concession for the migrant domestic worker will be automatically granted. The Ministry of Manpower will consider appeals for retrospective levy concessions for migrant domestic workers hired to care for the adopted children.”
“As of 2025, there were around 860 infant care and 8,700 childcare places licensed for operation in the Toa Payoh Planning Area, which includes the Bidadari estate. These places have not been fully utilised, with utilisation rates at 66% and 73% for infant care and childcare respectively, lower than the national utilisation rate of around 69% and 76%. To cater to projected demand among families with young children, the Early Childhood Development Agency has been building infant care and childcare places in tandem with new Built-to-Order housing developments. New preschools, which will add another 125 infant care and 640 childcare places, will be starting operations in the coming months in the Toa Payoh Planning Area, with the majority in the Bidadari estate. These places will be mostly offered by Anchor Operators and do not include additional places that may be built by other preschool operators.”
“MSF is progressively increasing DAC capacity by 500 places by 2030, and piloting additional community living options, such as the Enabled Living Programme, to better support persons with disabilities to live in the community.”
“Adult Disability Homes (ADHs) provide residential care for adults with disabilities who have no alternative accommodation. As of December 2025, over 1,000 persons with disabilities reside in 11 ADHs funded by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), most of which operate at utilisation rates of over 80%. Admission into ADHs is considered as a last resort and only when it is in the individual's best interest. Placement depends on factors, such as the individual's readiness and the suitability of available spaces. As of December 2025, there are 100 individuals on the ADH waitlist, with an average waiting time of about nine months from referral to enrolment. Day Activity Centres (DACs) provide day care and engagement for adults with disabilities living in the community. As of December 2025, there are 32 MSF-funded DACs with a total capacity of over 1,800 places and an overall utilisation rate of about 90%. There are 370 individuals on the waitlist, with an average waiting time of about eight months to enrolment. Over half of them are undergoing or pending screening and assessments. Some have declined available placements and remain on the waitlist for their preferred centre and may thus experience a longer waiting time. For suitable individuals on the waitlist pending enrolment, SG Enable facilitates referral to other facilities with available capacity or supports continued engagement through activities at the Enabling Services Hub and the Supported Transition and Engagement Programme for graduates of special education schools in the interim.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has received such feedback from appointed caregivers, including foster parents and kin or kith carers. Appointed caregivers can make day-to-day care decisions for children under Care and Protection Orders. They are also able to access relevant support and services for the children, such as financial subsidies for school and healthcare. For more substantive matters, such as overseas travel, education and medical treatment, the decision authority should reside with the birth parents as these may have long-term implications well beyond the time with the appointed caregivers. If such decisions have to be made, MSF and fostering agencies will contact the birth parents and seek their decisions. If the birth parents cannot be contacted despite reasonable efforts or are otherwise unable or unwilling to decide, the appointed caregivers will be empowered to decide, in consultation with MSF and qualified persons or the Director-General of Social Welfare.”
“Over the years, the Government has expanded funding to more preschools that meet the criteria of the Anchor Operator (AOP) and Partner Operator (POP) schemes to keep fees affordable for parents. To maintain high standards of quality in AOPs and POPs, a rigorous selection process has been put in place, which considers factors, such as the preschools' track record in providing quality childcare services, financial sustainability, accessibility and demand. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has been stepping up efforts to ensure that children with developmental needs have access to Early Intervention (EI) services regardless of which preschool they are enrolled in. This includes reaching out to more preschools, regardless of the centre type, to provide the Development Support and Learning Support (DS-LS) programmes to cover 80% of preschoolers aged five to six at steady state. Inclusion Coordinators are also appointed in all preschools to work with educators to identify children with potential developmental needs and refer parents to relevant resources. ECDA also recently published the Inclusive Preschool Practice Guide, a resource available to all operators sharing recommended best practices to enhance inclusive practices within their centre and to support children with diverse needs. Additionally, ECDA funds providers of the DS-LS programmes and the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children, so that children requiring EI support receive the specialised services that they require.”