BY the first quarter of 2023, all newly admitted inmates at Changi Prison will undergo an assessment to establish the needs of their families, and those who require support will be referred to family service centres (FSC) for help.
A trial conducted by the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) from 2018 to 2020 found that families of inmates need more support during the first and last six months of the incarceration. At the start, dynamics may be unstable for reasons such as loss of income or caregiving help.
Towards the end, families would need to prepare for the inmates’ return and provide support for their reintegration.
Assistant commissioner and director of rehabilitation and reintegration division of the SPS, Caroline Lim, said inmates are often worried about their families when they first enter prison, which would in turn distract them from focusing on what they need to do.
“The collaboration is important, because if inmates are worried about how their family is doing, that distracts them from their own rehabilitation process,” she said.
“Through the trial, we found that once the family is stabilised, they can be a very strong source of support for inmates as they go through their stay in prison.”
The SPS and FSCs have an ongoing collaboration to provide the families of inmates, especially those with young children, with support systems.
Lim added that efforts to assist and involve the families of inmates in their rehabilitation is also to mitigate the risk of inter-generational offending. A 2017 study by the SPS found that about one in every five children of drug offenders had committed a criminal offence.
Fei Yue Family Service Centre social worker Amelia Lim said that with this collaboration, help can be given to families in areas such as housing, finances and counselling.
“We serve as a service linkage for the families to financial and housing boards,” said Amelia Lim.
“We refer them to agencies such as social service office for financial assistance, and appeal on their behalf to the Housing Board. We also provide counselling support, which gives them an avenue to share their thoughts and concerns, and be attuned to their emotions.” — The Straits Times/ANN
