SINGAPORE — Two voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) — Boys’ Town and MCYC Community Services Society — have become the first to be chosen by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to set up fostering agencies as part of efforts to recruit more foster families.

MSF will work closely with appointed fostering agencies to further improve their capabilities, such as through training, joint case discussions and job shadowing with MSF Fostering Services staff.

Speaking to reporters today (Feb 26) at a visit to Boys’ Town, Social and Family Development Minister Chan Chun Sing said the two VWOs were chosen because they already have the infrastructure, and fostering will be an extension of their current work.

“For those (children) which we deem are ready to reintegrate into the community, they will have this continuum of services from the institutional home here, extending to the foster parents,” said Mr Chan.

The setting up of fostering agencies was announced in October last year. MSF will be investing S$8 million into a three-year pilot, where the appointed agencies will help recruit more foster parents and provide them with better support services in the form of counselling and training.

Noting that an institutional home is not the most natural environment for children to grow up in, Mr Chan emphasised the need to expand the Foster Parent Scheme.

“Going forward, we will want to almost double the Foster Parent Scheme to allow more of the low-risk and low-needs children to be re-integrated into the community as soon as possible,” he added.

Currently, MSF is the only formal provider of foster care with about 330 children on the Fostering Scheme, cared for by over 280 foster parents.

Both fostering agencies are expected to be set up by middle of this year, to kickstart the ministry’s goal of doubling its fostering capacity to be able to care for about 600 vulnerable children with the next five years.