Children and Youth Services

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Children and Youth Services

Supporting, Nurturing and Inspiring Children and Youth

We provide value-adding care, nurture and inspire children and youth, to complement what their parents and guardians provide.

The Appropriate Adult Scheme for Young Suspects (AAYS) trains staff members and volunteers, and matches them to support young suspects who need to attend law enforcement interviews. These young suspects are under the age of 18 years old. These trained volunteers are referred to as Appropriate Adults (AAs).

The AAs are trained to:

(i) look out for signs of distress in the young suspect,

(ii) aid communication between the young suspect and the investigation officer,

(iii) provide emotional support when necessary.

Click here to find out more about the roles of an AA, and the volunteering criteria and commitment required.

Children’s Society started the Bully-Free Programme in 2004 to address the issue of school bullying and its impact on those involved. The programme aims to promote a safe and supportive culture in schools with a zero tolerance stand towards bullying. Our work in this area involves raising awareness in school and community settings.

To reach out to the community, we host a Bully-Free website and organise various activities to raise the general public’s awareness on the topic. Our school out efforts includes e-assembly talks, workshops, ambassador projects, campaigns, parents and teachers training.”

Children’s Society promotes positive development in children and youth, and reduce and prevent our youth from engaging in risky behaviours at our four youth drop-in centres namely JYC @ Children’s Society, RoundBox @ Children’s Society, The Fort @ Children’s Society and VOX @ Children’s Society.  

From 1 July 2020, the Beyond Parental Control (BPC) Order has been replaced with a Family Guidance Order (FGO) which involves changes in the application process. The new process requires parent(s)/guardian(s) and the Children and Young Persons (CYPs) to complete a mandatory family programme before the parent(s)/guardian(s) can apply to Court for a FGO.
 
Singapore Children’s Society is involved in the following services:
(i) Pre-FGO Screening and Outreach 
(ii) Pre-FGO Mandatory Family Programmes 
(iii) Supervision of FGO cases
 
Parents can now use this Link to register for an appointment with Singapore Children’s Society. You will need to log in with your Singpass. Alternatively, you may wish to contact Singapore Children’s Society at 6253 1124 directly to register for an appointment.  

From 1 April 2018, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has revamped the provision of services to young offenders and at-risk youth to be centralised at nine youth work organisations called Integrated Service Providers (ISP). We are the appointed ISP for region 1 where we serve residents in the Bishan, Toa Payoh, Novena, Rochor/Kallang, Central and Bukit Merah areas. We provide 3 core and 2 specialised programmes.

Our aim is to provide accessible early interventions and recovery-focused services for children and youth to develop positively and live in a safe and inclusive community. To achieve this, we adopt a trauma-informed, recovery-oriented and family-focused approach in supporting them. Interventions are implemented in phases, which include:

  • developing children, youth and parents’ mental health literacy,
  • providing case management, and
  • providing psychosocial and psychological interventions and transitional care support.

One of the main referral sources is the Institute of Mental Health. These interventions are provided by Flourishing Minds (oms@childrensociety.org.sg).

Our Mental Health Literacy programme stems from the belief that mental health is a state of health, and it is an inalienable right that deserves to be promoted and protected.

Beyond awareness, mental health literacy is crucial to link knowledge to the possibility of action. Hence, this programme is designed for children, youth and caregivers to develop their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours in relation to various facets of mental health. Participants will be able to promote others’ and own’s mental health as well as to respond to others’ and cope with one’s mental distress/illness.

The programme format includes:

  • activity booths for general public,
  • workshops for group learning, and
  • one-on-one Mental Health Check-in for children and youth (book a 30 minutes check-in here).

This programme is provided by Flourishing Minds (oms@childrensociety.org.sg).

Storm Riders is an anger management programme that helps children, 9-12 years old, to understand their emotions and respond to anger in a healthy manner, without harming themselves, others or the environment. The programme focuses on enhancing children’s emotion management skills, problem-solving skills and pro-social skills. Click here to find out more.

Tinkle Friend is a national toll-free helpline and chatline for all primary school children in Singapore who need a listening ear. Manned by trained volunteers and staff, Tinkle Friend provides support, advice and information to lonely and distressed children, especially in situations when their parents or main caregivers are unavailable. Read our “Tinkle Friend: Year in Review 2020” here to find out more about children’s experience of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

For more information, please refer to Tinklefriend website www.tinklefriend.sg

The programme aims to provide adequate support to vulnerable child witnesses who have to testify in criminal cases. Vulnerable persons refer to victims or witnesses under the age of 18. Trained volunteer support persons are assigned to each witness and they help the child witness deal with stress management and familiarise them with judicial procedures. Working hand-in-hand with the Court and police, and together with our volunteers, Children’s Society provides emotional, non-evidentiary practical support to the child witnesses.

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