Children and Youth

and organisations that help them

1 A child is a person below the age of 14
years. A juvenile is a person seven years old or
above and below 16 years old. A young person is
someone 14 years old or above and below 16
(A!" #$$1%
1
. &his brief refers to them collectively
as children and youth. iven their age" children
and youth are generally part of a system including
their family" peer group" school and
neighbourhood. 'hat happens within the system
would impact children ((!(" #$$)%.
2 Issues
#.1 (ome children and youth face growing
pains. *or e+ample" they may need help coping
with home and school" arising perhaps from issues
with parenting styles" inade,uate care from parents
(which may arise from marital difficulties or single
parenthood" and financial difficulties% or bullying
in school.
#.# -n e+treme cases" children and youth may
be neglected (eg inade,uate food" shelter or
medical care% or even abused (eg physical" se+ual
or emotional abuse% (.!/(" undated%.
#.0 &here are children and youth who" arising
from their family circumstances or because of
learning difficulties" find it hard to cope with
school.
#.4 (elected statistical indicators
An average of about 1"#$$ children and youths
drop out of school each year. .ost out1of1school
youths (2(/s% drop out usually due to a loss of
interest in academic studies. &hey would need
s3ills to lead meaningful lives and contribute to
society (.!/(" #$$4%.
/outh crime5 a total of 0"64) youths were arrested
for crime in #$$6" accounting for 167 of the total
persons arrested. &his is a decrease from the #07
in #$$) but still higher than the proportion of
youths in (ingapore. &he most common offences
were theft and rioting (8/9" #$$4%.
1
&he 'omen:s !harter refers to a minor as someone
below the age of #1 years.
&he number of cases disposed by the ;uvenile
;ustice <ivision of &he (ubordinate !ourts grew by
over 067 between #$$6 and #$$45
2006 2007
*amily and ;uvenile
;ustice <ivision5 no. of
cases disposed
1"41$ 1"6#$
3 Services and solutions
0.1 !hildren have basic needs such as nutrition"
safety" a nurturing environment" and education.
(ervices must thus support their physical" social"
emotional and intellectual development. &hey
should also be able to identify children and families
at ris3 and to provide early intervention before full1
blown problems emerge ((!( #$$)%.
0.# (ervices available for children and youth
include5
a. (chool social wor3 helps students improve
their home or school life and manage life:s
challenges.
b. !ommunity1based programmes such as
mentoring (for those who are disadvantaged
or display at1ris3 behaviour%" and out1of1
school youth programmes to guide them to
return to mainstream education or transit to
vocational training or employment (8!(("
undated%.
4 Financials
4.1 &here are about 4$ organisations
#
serving
children and youth. (ome of them focus on serving
children and youth and their financial statements
reflect this. -n terms of annual income" these
organisations range in si=e from over a hundred
thousand dollars to millions of dollars each.
*inancial surpluses" if any" are usually in the range
of several hundred thousand dollars.
4.# (ome organisations serve children and
youth through specific programmes as part of larger
parent organisations. &he financial statements of
these specific programmes are consolidated with
those of the parent organisations. .any of these
parent organisations are multi1million dollar
operations in terms of income and e+penditure.
#
&his brief e+cludes organisations which focus mainly
on youth leadership" children:s health or children with
special needs" and uniformed groups. -t also e+cludes
organisations that serve the public in general. *amily
service centres which serve children are listed separately.
2005 2006
/outh arrests )"$)$ 0"64)
Reerences
Attorney1eneral:s !hambers (!"C% (#$$1%. !hildren and /oung >erson:s Act. 9etrieved # .ar $6 from
http5??statutes.agc.gov.sg
.inistry of !ommunity <evelopment" /outh and (ports (#CYS% (undated%. @ove 2ur !hildren A >revent
!hild Abuse. 9etrieved 10 .ar $6 from
http5??www.mcys.gov.sg?.!<(*iles?9esource?.aterials?>reventB!hildBAbuse.pdf
.inistry of !ommunity <evelopment" /outh and (ports (#$$4%. iving (upport5 8urturing 2ur /ouths.
9etrieved 10 .ar $6 from http5??app.mcys.gov.sg?web?youthBnurture.asp
8ational !ouncil of (ocial (ervices ($CSS% (undated%. !hildren and /outh (ervices. 9etrieved 10 .ar $6 from
http5??www.ncss.org.sg?socialBservice?childrenBandByouthBservices.asp
8ational /outh !ouncil ($YC% (#$$6%. /2C&D.sg5 &he (tate of /outh in (ingapore. 9etrieved #4 *eb $6 from
http5??www.nyc.gov.sg?research?
8ational !ommittee on /outh uidance and 9ehabilitation (8/9% (#$$4%. /outh !rime (tatistics. 9etrieved
#4 *eb $6 from http5??www.nygr.org.sg?pages?statistics.html
(ingapore !hildren:s (ociety (SCS% (#$$)%. >rotection of !hildren -n (ingapore5 An 2verview. 9etrieved 10
.ar $6 from http5??www.childrensociety.org.sg?services?images?childBprotection.pdf
&he (ubordinate !ourts of (ingapore (#$$6" #$$4%. Annual 9eports. 9etrieved 14 *eb $6 from
http5??app.subcourts.gov.sg?subcourts?page.asp+EpageidF4466
(elf1help groups and organisations that have specific programmes for children are included.