Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang
MP for Nee Soon GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development for each year from 2011 to 2017, what are the highest, lowest, mean and median numbers of children per
social worker at places of safety.
Answer
1 Children in need of care or protection may be referred by MSF or ordered by the Youth Court to reside in licensed Homes that are gazetted as places
of safety under the Children and Young Persons Act.
2 Social workers and other professionals in the Homes provide care to and support the daily needs of residents. The care staff to child ratio (“care ratio”) varies across the
sector as the number of children in the Homes may vary at any one time. The table below provides the median, mean, lowest and highest care ratio in the Homes in December of each year from 2016 to 2018, and August 2019.1
Year | December 2016 | December 2017 | December 2018 | August 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Median care ratio | 111 | 110 | 19 | 19 |
Mean care ratio | 111 | 111 | 110 | 110 |
Lowest care ratio[2] | 11 | 14 | 13 | 13 |
Highest care ratio | 124 | 118 | 121 | 120 |
1 Similar analysis for data prior to 2016 is not readily available.
2 The lowest care ratios is due to the low number of children residing at the licensed Home at a specific point.