Posted: 09 February 2012 1201 hrs
SINGAPORE: The
government is committing S$30 million to enhance the capabilities of
Family Service Centres (FSC) to reach out to vulnerable families.
This brings the total amount it has committed for the next three years to S$100 million.
Speaking
at this year's FSC seminar, Acting Minister for Community Development,
Youth and Sports (MCYS), Chan Chun Sing, said the ministry plans to
build another 10 full or branch FSCs to bring help nearer to the
community.
Currently, there are 39 FSCs with two more in the pipeline at Admiralty and Punggol.
Mr
Chan said MCYS will also encourage FSCs in a geographical area to
cluster together and work with other community partners to provide more
integrated services.
He added: "For example, Ang Mo Kio is one
big town. If you only have one centre to serve the whole Ang Mo Kio,
first, I think everybody needs to travel a bit more.
"But when
you have a branch FSC, then certain branches can first be nearer to the
community, some group of the community, that reduces the time people
have to travel to seek services. The other thing is that certain
branches can also focus on issues that are closer to the particular
community."
He said the ministry also aims to decrease the workload of social workers by 20 per cent.
At
the same time, it wants to systematically groom some of the social
workers to develop depth and expertise to handle new challenges and
complex cases.
Mr Chan said the National Council of Social
Service will also work with the Committee for Practice Standards to
develop a Code of Professional Practice for FSCs.
- CNA