Better co-ordination among social services providers to ‘reduce burden’ on needy
When a needy individual visits a government or community organisation to seek help in the near future, frontline officers at these places should be able direct him to relevant aid schemes, including those from other organisations. Photo Illustration: Cristian Newman/Unsplash.com
SINGAPORE — When a needy individual visits a government or community organisation to seek help in the near future, frontline officers at these places should be able direct him to relevant aid schemes, including those from other organisations.
This is one of the plans by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to better coordinate how social services are delivered.
Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee talked about this while responding to questions raised by Members of Parliament Lily Neo (Jalan Besar GRC) and Amrin Amin (Sembawang GRC) on how the ministry provides holistic help and coordinates efforts to help those in need.
The network of 24 Social Service Offices — which was fully rolled out in 2015 — will play a key role in transforming social service delivery, Mr Lee said during the debate on his ministry’s budget.
One initiative is to equip frontline officers in government agencies and community organisations with the basic knowledge on the range of schemes beyond those offered by their own organisation. They would then be able to provide information to those seeking help or refer them to services across organisations.
For a start, this will involve the relevant officers at the Social Service Offices, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and People’s Association offices at neighbourhood community clubs since they are common contact points for those in need. It will eventually be extended to medical social workers and school counsellors.
In some schools here, such a referral system is already being practised, where schools know when and how to refer students and their families who need help to the Social Service Offices or Family Service Centres. All schools will have this “referral protocol” by the end of this year, Mr Lee said.
SHARING INFORMATION ACROSS AGENCIES
Besides this development, those in need will find it easier to apply for social assistance schemes and services across different agencies as MSF plans to share information and assessments across agencies.
This minimises the need to make multiple applications to various agencies, for instance, which often involves submitting the same documents and filling up multiple forms that ask for similar information.
This could mean that when someone under MSF’s ComCare scheme for the low-income group is unable, say, to keep up with rent payments for his or her public rental flat, the Social Service Office can share its assessment of the case with HDB for the board to consider reducing the rent.
In another announcement, Institute of Technical Education students who are receiving ComCare assistance would automatically be considered for their eligibility to receive a bursary without making a separate application. This will take effect from the second half of this year, and MSF and MOE will progressively extend this to students in mainstream schools, polytechnics and the autonomous universities.
Mr Lee said: “This will help reduce the burden often faced by low-income individuals and households seeking help, who may already be in distress or urgent need.”
To make it more convenient for those seeking help, MSF is looking at co-locating Social Service Offices with those offering complementary services, such as Family Service Centres, employment assistance centres and the Silver Generation Offices.
If that is not practical, the clients may consult officers from other agencies through video conferencing at the Social Service Offices. This will be piloted at the office in Geylang Serai from the last quarter of the year.
While MSF will continue to look into ways to reduce the burden on individuals and families in need, Mr Lee said that it is also “mindful not to do this indiscriminately”.
“(This is) so that we do not inadvertently erode people’s will to be self-reliant, or create, for that matter, a large cliff effect where multiple lines of assistance come up for review at the same time,” he said.
PAY RISE FOR WORKERS IN SOCIAL SERVICE
Speaking about those who work in the social service sector, Mr Lee said that they are “vital and indispensable partners” in tackling income inequality, protecting the vulnerable and ensuring that no one is left behind.
He added that while many did not choose to work in the sector for the remuneration, they deserve fair and competitive wage.
From April, social service professionals can expect a pay rise of up to 12 per cent, after a review of salary norms conducted by MSF every three years.
This applies to everyone working in the sector, including social workers, therapists, clerical officers, workshop instructors, executive directors and heads of organisations.
The sector has a manpower strength of about 15,000 as of end last year.
The Government will also boost its funding of manpower costs at voluntary welfare organisations by about 5 per cent of S$11 million in the new financial year starting April.
It is not compulsory for voluntary welfare organisations to adopt these salary norms, but MSF said that it strongly encourages them to do so to keep up with wages in the broader labour market.
At the last review in 2015, social service professionals expected a pay rise of between 3 and 19 per cent. The Government also raised its funding for voluntary welfare organisations then by S$16 million.
MSF said: “The increments were larger in 2015 because main adjustments to salary norms at that time took place only after three-yearly benchmarking exercises, whereas salary norm increases from 2015 onwards were made on an annual basis, (meaning) there were increments in 2016 and 2017.”
