A leg-up for ex-inmates at Step-Up Centre

This post came out from The Straits Times (20 July 2016)

Former drug offender Mohammad Ridzwan had no savings and struggled to support himself after his release from jail in June last year. Looking for financial help, he decided to visit the Step-Up Centre in the Sengkang Community Hub in October. With the Centre's help, he found a job as a clinical assistant. Another thing he hopes to do soon is to have the tattoos on his arms removed under a subsidised programme.

The centre, which is run by voluntary welfare organisation Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA), began as a pilot project to serve the needs of former offenders and their families in January last year. It will be officially launched next week, and expects to handle more than 500 cases this year.

Besides counselling and mediation services, the centre provides legal aid, job referrals, and a link to support groups. It also serves as a contact point for those seeking information on drug abuse. The idea to set up the centre was first mooted in 2014, after findings of the Ministry of Home Affairs' Task Force on Drugs were released.

The people who visit the centre are mostly in their early 20s to late 30s. About 60 per cent of the 339 cases seen last year were for financial aid, said Sana executive director Abdul Karim. 'The centre aims to meet their immediate needs, for instance, by giving them small sums of money, pre-paid food vouchers and ez-link cards,' he said. 'But it also helps them to prepare for the future, by providing guidance for them to upgrade their jobs and social skills.'

The centre was set up at a cost of about $300,000 and up to 65 per cent of its daily operations are currently self-funded. It is run by about 30 para-counsellors, who are volunteers with the necessary experience and qualifications in social work and psychology. The centre also hopes to rally the support of family members by inviting them for counselling sessions and programmes to help former inmates reintegrate into society.

Thoughts anyone?

Yours,

Something Small Thinking Big

More ex-offenders staying out of jail

This post came out from The Straits Times (18 February 2016)

More people who are sent to prison will receive stronger community support, during and after their internment, in a a bid to break the cycle of re-offending. This is because community-based programmes, in which inmates can serve the tail-end of their jail terms outside prison walls, have helped to keep overall recidivism rates "low and stable" said the Singapore Prison Service (SPS).

Of the total number of penal inmates put under such programmes, 96.9 per cent of the 886 in total successfully completed them last year, according to the latest annual prison figures released yesterday. This was a slight increase from 96.7 per cent in the previous year. In addition, the recidivism rate shows sign of dropping. The proportion of inmates from the 2013 cohort who re-offended within two years of their release dipped 1.7 percentage points to 25.9 per cent, from 27.6 per cent in 2012.

Rehabilitation and reintegration work does not stop at the end of an inmate's jail term but continues into the community, said Mr Rockey Franciso Jr, director of SPS's Community Corrections Command. He stressed the importance of community partnerships in ensuring that inmates do not return to their old ways.

Before release, inmates are assessed if they are suitable for community-based rehabilitation and reintegration programmes based on their needs and risks. This includes criteria such as the nature of their offences, their conduct in prison and the presence of family support. Those at lower risk of re-offending and with strong family support may be allowed to serve some of their sentence at home, under the Home Detention Scheme. They will have to abide by stipulated curfew hours, which can be monitored through electronic ankle tags.

Others, who need a more structured environment, may be put on the Halfway House or Work Release schemes. For at least six months, those under these schemes will be supervised and counselled by officers from different community and government agencies, such as the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA). "We will contact inmates through phone calls or have face-to-face meetings to get updates. And together with the case workers, we will try to tackle any issues they may face," said reintegration officer Mohamed Azhar Mohamed Khaili.

Inmates identified to have a higher risk of re-offending may be placed on the Mandatory Aftercare Scheme, which requires them to undergo compulsory supervision for up to two years from their release.

Figures also showed fewer people going to jail last year. There were 10,635 convicted penal admissions in 2015, compared to 11,595 such admissions in 2014 and 12,774 in 2013. As at Dec 31 last year, the overall penal prison population stood at 9,602, with female inmates making up about 8.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, more employers are being enlisted to offer suitable jobs to inmates, before their release. The Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE) has encouraged employers in the food and beverage, hospitality, logistics and manufacturing sectors to hire ex-offenders. Last year, 4,745 employers were registered with SCORE, a 7 per cent increase from 4,433 in the 2014. In addition, 2,042 inmates secured a job while still in prison last year, which his up 9.5 per cent from the 1,865 in 2014.

Thoughts:

1. I believe in community support and the provision of jobs to distract the thoughts of the inmates/ex-inmates so that he/she can focus on the current and make a stable mean of living. The best, of course, is ot see lower inmates and crime rates!

Thoughts anyone?

Yours,

Something Small Thinking Big

$500k for 'Fairy Godparent' scheme

This post came out from The Straits Times (13 June 2015)

When her father - a recurring offender - was jailed for 2.5 years in 2008, Ms Hazirah Ismail felt alienated from her school friends. Her mother, who had taken on on a string of jobs to feed her and her two siblings, had little time to attend to her emotional needs.

Then seven years old, Ms Hazirah got her confidence back with help from the Yellow Ribbon Fund and the Industrial and Services Co-operative Society (ISCOS), which both help former offenders. Their Fairy Godparent Programme (FGP) provided bursaries and held activities so she could find new friends.

Yesterday, the programme was given a boost with more than $500,000 in new sponsorship - with the charitable organization Trafigura Foundation contributing $200,000 and the industrial vehicle leasing entity Goldbell Group putting in just over $300,000. The programme, launched in 2006, also aims to provide academic assistance to the children of former offenders. It gives out bursaries, conducts workshops and holds family bonding activities.

The new sponsorship will go towards helping the programme's yearly 1,000 beneficiaries such as Ms Hazirah.

Thoughts:

1. Yellow Ribbon Project is a meaningful way for the society to help ex-offenders to re-integrate back into the society and also to help their family members who are affected due to the loss of income and support at home.
2. I am happy to see that there are funders who came in to help chip in for other kinds of needs of such families, such as education in this article. Some of these sponsors might/ might not support programmes for ex-offenders, but at least they do recognize that there those family members that were caught in the situation and provide this help. 

Thoughts anyone?

Yours,

Something Small Thinking Big

Build a more cohesive and caring society in Singapore: Lawrence Wong

This post came out from Channel News Asia online website (6 June 2015)

More than 2,800 families of inmates have received help through the Yellow Ribbon Community Project. The initiative now has more than 700 volunteers, up from just 58 when it first started five years ago.

Grassroots volunteers from 15 divisions were honoured on Saturday (Jun 6) at an awards and appreciation lunch. They are trained to assess the needs of the families of offenders, which can range from financial aid, to counselling.


Thoughts:

1. I first heard of the Yellow Ribbon Community Project after attending a charity run by Yellow Ribbon Fund. I thought that other than helping ex-convicts to find jobs, their family members who are outside should also be looked after as well. This is because some of these families might lose their sole breadwinner, or the convict might be the only parent at home.
2. I would like to find out more about this project, and see if long term support can be given to such families. It would not be meaningful if the engagement with them is once-off. Support structures should be there always, so that people in need can turn to and rely on.
3. Nonetheless, the Grassroots are also not trained specialists to provide support. They can refer these needy families to the necessary agencies for help. Afterwhich, a visitation once every few weeks would suffice to see if the families are coping or not. 

Thoughts anyone?

Yours,

Something Small Thinking Big