KidSTART to support 1,000 vulnerable children

SINGAPORE — Vulnerable children from low-income families from Bukit Merah, Kreta Ayer, Boon Lay, Taman Jurong and Geylang Serai will be sought out by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), and be provided with support in healthcare, learning and other developmental needs to give them a leg up in life.

This will be done through a new pilot called KidSTART, which will monitor the progress of these children during their early years, said Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin during his ministry’s Committee of Supply debate on Tuesday (April 12).

“These children, as we all know, face multiple challenges. Their parents may be unable to provide a supportive environment for a host of reasons. For example, they could be young, they could be unwed, they could be incarcerated, they could be a combination of all these various factors. Coupled with this limited or no extended family support, these families would benefit and they do need additional help,” he said.

The programme will help children up to age six. A Programme Office will be set up by ECDA, which will work with government agencies, selected Social Service Offices, hospitals and community partners to identify and provide support to these children and their families.

Through home visits, parent education or family support programmes, parents will, for example, be equipped with parenting knowledge and resources to nurture the child at home. Selected pre-schools will also provide more support for the child in their pre-school years and transition to primary school. Some 1,000 children are expected to benefit from KidSTART, and the five neighbourhoods were chosen to allow the agency to tap the “unique make-up and resources available to support vulnerable children in the different local communities”, said ECDA in its press release.

In all, the pilot is expected to cost more than S$20 million, where the cost per child could range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year, depending on the programmes and services he or she requires.

In response to a question from Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Leon Perera on how ECDA will handle cases where parents are reluctant to participate in the pilot, Mr Tan said his officers will first try to bring parents around to the idea, and if they are still unwilling to cooperate, they will check if the child is being neglected before deciding if further measures are needed.

In addition, the MSF will also be piloting a programme called Safe and Strong Families to improve the “parenting skills and family functioning” of some 400 families, to ensure vulnerable children can remain safe in their families, said Mr Tan.

This pilot programme will include two main services — family preservation and family reunification — which will last six and 12 months respectively.