To better understand the range of issues encountered and our success in helping families-in-need, the Research Unit and the Family Services Group jointly conducted a deep dive into the cases handled by Yishun Family Service @ Children’s Society (YFC) and Children Outreach @ Children’s Society (CNC) from January to July 2021. Both centres are under the auspices of the Family Services Group.
Of the 240 cases closed during this period, the five most common intervention goals set for clients involved ensuring safety (42% of cases), achieving financial stability (39%), managing mental health conditions (34%), managing risky behaviours (28%), and managing or enhancing family functioning (27%).
Of the five, the highest success rates were for cases where we worked with clients to ensure safety and manage risky behaviours. Some 95% of these cases were successfully closed. In the other three areas of concern, between 80% and 83% of cases were successfully closed.
The data indicates that we have been generally effective in addressing commonly seen needs, and highly effective in addressing immediate safety and risk concerns.
An area we could improve in is in helping clients achieve employment or enhance their employability. This was an issue faced by 22% of our clients, and we successfully resolved 64% of these cases.
To strengthen our support for clients who require help in seeking employment, we launched Empower, an employment support programme, in Feb 2021. It seeks to connect clients with training and potential employment opportunities.