Reasons for Attrition in Foster Parenting Scheme and Proposed Guidelines for Co-parenting Arrangements for Fostering

3 Dr Neo Kok Beng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry has any plan to issue guidelines for co-parenting arrangements between foster and biological parents; and (b) if so, when will these guidelines be issued.

4 Dr Neo Kok Beng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what the present estimated shortfall of foster parents is; and (b) what additional programmes are planned to address this shortfall, if any.

5 Dr Neo Kok Beng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what has been the attrition rate of foster parents in the last three years; (b) what are the reasons or issues for such attrition; and (c) how can these issues be resolved.

The Minister of State for Social and Family Development (Mr Goh Pei Ming) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take oral Question Nos 3 to 5 filed by Nominated Member Dr Neo Kok Beng in today’s Order Paper together, as they pertain to matters concerning foster parents.

Mr Speaker: Please proceed.

Mr Goh Pei Ming: My response will also address a related question filed by the Member Dr Neo Kok Beng¹ for a subsequent Sitting, and if the Member is satisfied with the response, he may wish to withdraw the question after this session.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will continue to grow our pool of foster parents so that more children in state care can be placed in safe and stable family-based settings, which generally provide better social, emotional and developmental outcomes than institutional care.

MSF has partnered fostering agencies, community organisations, religious groups and private organisations to raise awareness and recruit more foster families. We have also strengthened support measures, such as increasing the fostering allowance for those caring for teenagers from October 2025, and removing the minimum household income and educational requirements for applicants from July 2024. On co-parenting, we are open to considering arrangements between foster and biological parents where appropriate, particularly to facilitate reunification of the child with the biological parents and where it is in the child’s best interests.

On attrition, about 6% of foster parents have been deregistered each year on average over the last three years. The reasons include new family commitments, health or age-related factors and relocation. We will continue to strengthen support, training and engagement with foster families to improve retention, and build a strong fostering ecosystem. The Member may wish to refer to Parliamentary written answers on "Increasing Enrolment of Foster Parents" at the 18 February 2025 Sitting to learn more about earlier enhancements to foster care.

On Child LifeSG Credits, they are credited to the Child Development Account (CDA) trustee of an eligible child to ensure that support is directed to the individual responsible for the child’s care and upbringing. While it is possible for the trustee to change the CDA trustee through the bank’s portal or mobile application, I would like to point out that in designing the foster allowances, MSF does not assume reliance on these credits.

Foster parents receive a monthly fostering allowance ranging from $1,100 to $1,800, depending on the child’s age and needs, to help defray childcare and other out-of-pocket expenses. In addition, foster children are eligible for childcare, student care and medical subsidies.

Mr Speaker: Dr Neo.

Dr Neo Kok Beng (Nominated Member): Thank you, Speaker. I have two supplementary questions. Firstly, we acknowledge that MSF has done a very good job in reintegration, the percentage is very high, for the foster children with their birth families. What I would like to ask is, what is the long-term reintegration rate? How long and how do we measure success of the reintegration? This is to ensure the long-term safety and well-being of the child.

The other supplementary question is on, again, I want to follow up on the rights of the foster parents. What is the status right now for them to access the information of the foster children, especially in education, where they need to monitor but now they do not have access to. Also, they need to book the medical appointments online for the polyclinics or hospital and they do not have access. So, what is the status of this right now, as the focus is really for these foster children to be in the care of their foster parents for a couple of years?

Mr Goh Pei Ming: Mr Speaker, I will take the Member's second question first. Once a child or young person has been assigned to a set of foster parents through a Court Order or a Voluntary Care Agreement, foster parents will be issued a letter from MSF that identifies them as the caregivers under the Ministry's fostering scheme. This letter facilitates communications between the foster parents and the healthcare professionals to ensure that the medical needs are addressed. It also allows them to communicate through the school system to take care of the schooling and educational needs

However, I acknowledge the Members point. Many of the public agencies' services have gone digital and therefore, we do want to provide this digital access as well. This is also the feedback consistent with what we have gotten from many foster parents. Therefore, MSF is currently working to further enhance our foster parents' experience by providing them access to the foster child's education and healthcare information through HealthHub and Parents Gateway. This is in progress and we will hope to update the Member at a later date, once these are ready.

On the second question, in terms of the long-term success rate, it is not a single percentage or single metric that we measure by. What is more important, success is measured by whether the child is able to safely and sustainably stay with the birth family over time.

Some other factors we look at when we evaluate whether this is safe and sustainable, include whether there is further abuse or neglect, the absence of it, is useful, stable caregiving arrangements within the family to care for the child, the overall well-being and functioning of the child, especially if the child is in school, as well as health and behavioural aspects.

To safeguard the child after reintegration, MSF has post-reunification monitoring protocols. This includes safety checks at least monthly by MSF case officers, complemented by inputs from community partners, such as schools, social service agencies who know the family well to ensure that if there are any risk or any concerns, these are picked up early. Children are also monitored for at least 12 months after reintegration and longer if we need to, depending on the family circumstances and the overall assessed level of risk. Where concerns arise, MSF will not hesitate to intervene promptly to provide additional support to take further protective actions when needed.

Mr Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Relating to one issue of co-parenting, I would like to ask will the Ministry consider granting foster parents synchronised access to the child's Health Buddy app? Currently, foster parents have no access to the app and require the cooperation of biological parents. Sometimes, the cooperation may not be given for various different reasons. I believe the Ministry can help to bridge this gap to ensure better healthcare continuity for our foster children, and also better coordination between the foster and biological parents.

If it is not possible to grant access across all fostering cases due to the temporary nature of some of the fostering arrangements, then, given that many foster placements last for several years, will MSF at least consider enabling Health Buddy access to at least the longer-term foster parents, for example, those who are at least two to three years or upwards?

Mr Goh Pei Ming: I thank the Member for his concern for foster children. I think the question is similar to my reply given to Nominated Member of Parliament Dr Neo. In particular, we recognise that it is important to give foster parents access to health information, and those may be on Health Buddy. Like what I mentioned earlier, we are working on providing digital access to foster parents.

In terms of what data fields and what information is provided to the parents, these are being looked at, because, like the Member said, the situation for every child, the length of foster care differs. And in some cases, depending on the circumstances under which the child is placed under foster care, and the relationship with the biological parents, things can be sensitive, and therefore we have to consider all that when we arrange for what data fields are available to the foster parents.

But ultimately, the primary consideration is that we want to make sure that foster parents have the information required to provide the necessary care to the child and make sure that the child's best interests are addressed.

Mr Speaker: Mr Tan, a short one, please.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: Yes, just a quick clarification. I thank the Minister of State for the answers and the details. The feedback I receive is pertaining, especially to making appointments, because there have been instances where foster parents experience appointments being cancelled without their knowledge, and then having to arrive at the hospital unnecessarily wasting their time.

Mr Goh Pei Ming: Yes, indeed, so, the digital access that we are working on will allow for the appointment booking system and updates to be made available for foster parents to access.