Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) in the past five years, what is the annual average and median lengths of time that children remain in (i) places of safety and (ii) the Singapore Boys' Home or Singapore Girls’ Home; and (b) if the data is not available, whether there is an increasing or decreasing trend in the average and median lengths of time that children remain in places of safety and the Singapore Boys' Home or Singapore Girls’ Home.
Answer
Children and young persons (CYPs) in need of care or protection may be referred by MSF or ordered by the Youth Court to reside in a place of safety. MSF’s Youth Homes, namely the Singapore Boys’ Home and Singapore Girls’ Home are also places of safety under the Children andYoung Persons Act.
2 From 2017 to 2021, the average duration of stay for such CYPs ranged from 1.8 years to 2.2 years, and the median duration of stay ranged from1.4 years to 1.6 years. The durations wererelatively stable with no indication of an increasing or decreasing trend.