Family coaches, 'action plans' for lower-income families in enhanced ComLink: Lawrence Wong
SINGAPORE: Lower-income families in rental housing will get more help under the ComLink scheme, as part of enhancements to improve social mobility, said Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Thursday (Oct 19).
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will train ComLink officers to become family coaches, who will work more closely with each family to coach and motivate them towards achieving their goals, said Mr Wong.
This means that they will go beyond their current role of coordinating the social services available.
"They will ... play a stronger role to work with every family to determine the customised support each family needs. This will ensure ComLink families receive the right support at the right time," said Mr Wong.
ComLink families, numbering around 14,000, will also get additional support tied to specific action plans jointly developed between the family coaches and their families, he said.
"We can consider a higher quantum of support or even longer-term support to families that make progress in areas like staying employed, saving to buy a home or ensuring their children attend preschool regularly," said Mr Wong, without specifying the help that will be given to the families.
"Family coaches will be able to use this additional support to encourage and motivate the families to work towards success."
There are plans to help ease the families’ short-term financial pressures, as they make progress towards longer-term goals, he said.
"These are some of the ideas that we have been thinking about and we are continuing to develop under the Forward Singapore exercise," said Mr Wong.
"We will release a report soon and you will get a sense of the broad range of recommendations.
"The bottom line is that we have a full agenda ahead of us. We will take bold steps to uplift our lower-income Singaporeans, and to keep social mobility alive and well in Singapore."
Mr Wong provided these updates on Thursday (Oct 19) at the 10th anniversary of the Social Service Office (SSO) at Kreta Ayer Community Centre.
It is one of two locations where the first two SSOs were set up 10 years ago to make ComCare assistance more accessible. Since then, 24 SSOs have been set up across all HDB towns.
Moving forward, the challenges of confronting inequality and sustaining social mobility will only get tougher over time, said Mr Wong.
"In particular, we know that lower-income families often face more complex and multi-faceted challenges. When the parents struggle, their children tend to have a less secure upbringing and can easily fall behind their peers," he said.
This was why SSOs set up Community Link (ComLink), Mr Wong added, so as to take a family-centric approach to supporting families that need it. ComLink has been rolled out across all HDB towns with rental flats.
The programme and its officers provide "intensive support" from employment assistance to child development, and they customise these interventions for each family, said Mr Wong.
The aim is for these families to stabilise their situations, become self-reliant, and achieve sustainable progress, he added.
"We know that more still needs to be done. We see early signs that social stratification is becoming more entrenched," said Mr Wong.
"In the past, we mostly had older folks staying in rental flats; nowadays, we see more families with young children staying in these flats, and they are there for longer durations too."
This is an issue that the ministry has been studying as part of the Forward SG exercise.
Mr Wong said that Singapore aims to further reduce income inequality, which is why the government has been "tilting" its policies in favour of the lower-income groups, and will continue to do so.
"More than that, we want to ensure that no family in Singapore gets trapped in a permanent underclass. That means we have to do more to help – not just the parents, but also ensure their children have access to full and fair opportunities early in life."
He urged individuals to step up to serve as volunteer befrienders, alongside the family coaches. They play a crucial support role in helping understand the needs of these families, and providing emotional support as they work to overcome their challenges, he said.
He also encouraged and invited those who have done well in life to support programmes that uplift the lives of the ComLink families.
"These donors can certainly make an impact in many ways. They can make financial contributions, they can provide mentorship or opportunities to help the children of these families build social capital and networks," he said.
Businesses, too, can do their part, and some already have, he said. For example, DBS has been providing customised financial literacy programmes for ComLink families, while OCBC staff are volunteering as befrienders.
"The direction for our road ahead is clear: we want to see a fairer, more equal and more inclusive Singapore," said Mr Wong. "Together, let’s make this vision a reality."