SINGAPORE — Families and individuals who get approval for ComCare financial aid will automatically receive help from other relevant schemes, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Thursday (March 10). 

Mr Lee, who is also Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), was speaking during a debate on MSF's budget. He also said that 30,000 ComCare families would benefit from the bundle under the scheme that will be progressively rolled out. 

From the second quarter of the year, Singaporeans may apply for the ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance scheme online at MSF's SupportGoWhere portal. For now, they can only do so in person at Social Service Offices under MSF. 

"We will continue to make our processes even more convenient for families by digitalising our social services, while ensuring that in-person support remains available for those who prefer face-to-face interactions," Mr Lee said. 

The scheme is open to lower-income families or individuals who are looking for work or temporarily unable to work due to illness or have to care for children, elders or other dependants, and who have little or no family support, savings or assets to rely on for their daily needs.

BUNDLES UNDER COMCARE SCHEME

• Under MSF’s new ComCare scheme bundles, families or individuals whose ComCare applications are approved will automatically qualify for assistance schemes from other ministries 
• They will not need to submit separate applications or extra paperwork 
• The first scheme bundle, which supports school-going children, will be rolled out in the second quarter of this year
• This includes the Ministry of Education's Financial Assistance Scheme and MSF's Student Care Fee Assistance
• Eligible families with children attending government or government-aided schools and MSF-registered Student Care Centres or Special Student Care Centres whose ComCare financial assistance applications are approved will automatically qualify for the two schemes
• From the third quarter of this year, MSF will progressively provide scheme bundles in areas related to housing, preschool, digital access and healthcare 
• MSF estimated that these enhancements will translate to about 50 per cent reduction in processing time for clients and savings of about 6,700 man-hours for officers a year

ENHANCED SUPPORT PORTAL 

• MSF's SupportGoWhere website will be enhanced so that from the second quarter of the year, Singaporeans may apply for the ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance scheme through the portal
• The portal will tap MyInfo to auto-fill relevant personal information, reducing manual data entry by applicants
• After applying online, applicants will receive a follow-up phone or video call from a social service officer to assess the family’s situation
• Applicants may also submit supporting documents directly through the online site, instead of hard copy documents at the social service offices
• MSF will also enhance the website to enable applicants to find information on more social assistance schemes and social services
• The ministry is working towards enabling Singaporeans to apply for various government schemes through the portal directly