Subsidies for disabled who go to daycare centres on part-time basis

SINGAPORE — Starting January, persons with disabilities who go to daycare centres on a part-time basis can also get fee subsidies from the Government.

Currently, only those who attend Monday through Friday get the handouts, which can cover up to 80 per cent of the fees. Subsidies are available to Singaporeans and permanent residents with a per capita monthly household income not exceeding S$2,600.

Speaking to the media yesterday on the sidelines of the opening of a new day activity centre for the intellectually-disabled at Tampines, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said the extension of the subsidies will help caregivers, both by lightening their financial load and allowing them a breather from providing care.

“What we want to do is ... to help not just the clients but, more importantly, the caregivers, so that they can have affordable and accessible services. So that the caregivers either can go to work or also get a bit of a respite in their daily routine,” Mr Chan said.

Fees charged by the centres — which can be as low as tens of dollars to several hundreds — depend on means-testing and the fee subsidy from the Government.

The new day activity centre, which is managed by the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), has 75 places for those with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.

Apart from providing care, the centre also provides training to regulate their clients’ behaviours and improve their independent living skills. For example, they will be taught about personal grooming and hygiene, road safety, making purchases, as well as vocational skills, such as packaging, weighing and folding boxes.

There are also therapy services, as well as social, recreational and work activities.

The aim is to help these persons with disabilities better integrate into society and enable them to lead meaningful lives independently.

The centre currently has 44 clients, of which about one-third use it part-time.

Other full-time clients pay about S$400 a month without subsidies, said MINDS.

The centre is open on weekdays from 9am to 4.30pm.

With the addition of the new centre yesterday, there are now 20 day activity centres in Singapore. Plans are afoot to improve adult care services and widen the range of respite care options here, including adding about 500 more day activity centre places to the current 1,000 by 2020.