OPENING SPEECH
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, “That the Bill be now read a Second time”.
2 The Children and Young Persons Act was first enacted in 1949 and it provides for the welfare, care, protection and rehabilitation of children and young persons.
3 This Act was last revised in 2001.
4 I would now like to touch on the key proposals that this Bill seeks to put in place.
Spirit and Principles of the Act
5 To provide greater clarity, these are actually principles which have been in place for the past 60 years. The Bill includes two guiding principles. First, that the parents of the child or young person have the primary responsibility for the care and welfare of the child or young person, and should discharge their responsibilities to promote the welfare of the child or young person. This statement reflects our belief that the family is the key institution for nurturing our young. The government can encourage and support families in their discharge of their familial responsibilities, but the government cannot be a substitute for the family.
6 The second principle states that in the administration and application of the Act, the welfare and best interest of the child or young person shall be the first and paramount consideration.
Licensing of Children and Young Persons Homes
7 Clause 25 of the Bill refers to the licensing of Children and Young Persons Homes. Historically, these Homes have been operated by voluntary welfare organisations. Some of them have very long histories of compassionate service dating back to the early 1900s. Over the years, the Homes have evolved from providing basic shelter and attending to the needs to providing care and rehabilitation to children, helping children reintegrate with their families, and promoting educational opportunities so that these children can fulfil their potential. Currently, we have 19 such Homes with about 900 residents. MCYS runs two Juvenile Homes with about 300 residents. My Ministry has worked very closely with the Homes over many decades, journeying with them through the changing trends in child protection and youth rehabilitation work, and ensuring that we continue to meet the needs of the residents and their families.
8 Sir, the licensing of Children and Young Persons Homes is an important step and a key milestone in the development of the residential care sector. It signals our commitment to enhancing the welfare, the protection and the care of our children in residential care and formalises the standards of care that we expect the Homes to provide. The Bill proposes powers for MCYS officers to inspect the Homes and to issue licenses to operators who have met the licensing requirements. These requirements would include the adequacy of the physical premises of the Home, the quality of personnel and the processes to ensure that appropriate care and supervision is available at all times to the residents. New Homes will also need to comply with the licensing requirements before they can begin operations. The Act will provide avenues for operators to take remedial actions when requirements have not been met and for appeals on decisions made with regards to the issuing and revocation of licenses.
9 The licensing scheme will also extend protections to children with special needs in three other Homes for the Disabled which currently take in such children.
10 There will be a Review Board that will review cases of all children in residential care. This is in view of international practice that helps to ensure early planning for each child’s welfare and it provides for a multi-disciplinary platform for workers from the Homes and other professionals to work towards a care plan for the child that will best meet his or her specific needs. A Review Board comprising individuals with relevant expertise will be established to review all children residing in all licensed Homes.
Early Intervention with Children and Families
11 This Bill also seeks to enhance early intervention for children and families that require assistance in providing for their safety and well-being.
Voluntary Care Agreements
12 Let me touch on this point of voluntary care agreements. The Bill introduces a new provision on voluntary care agreements which provides for care agreements promoting the welfare of the child to be made by the parents or guardians of the child. Child protection work has often been associated with court orders and with removing children from his or her home. I want to stress that in effect, this would be a last resort. There is much more that can be done to enable families to take better care for and to nurture their children before the situation spirals out of control. Too often, serious cases of child abuse occur when there is no early detection or failure of early intervention for families who are struggling to cope with raising their children.
13 The voluntary care agreements represent an attempt to formalise and encapsulate the joint efforts of the parents on one hand and child protection officers on the other to work together to ensure the safety and well-being of the child. Currently child protection officers work with families on care plans for the child. Such care plans address issues such as the child’s educational needs, supervision of the child, support and assistance that may be rendered from community agencies, etc. Having such explicit plans drawn up and agreed help the parents to better understand and to better implement the steps that need to be taken to address the needs of their child. My Ministry will also issue regulations as to how these voluntary care agreements may be made, how they will be reviewed and how they will be adjusted according to the needs of the child and family, and in particular to safeguard the rights and interest of the child and the parents.
14 This provision does not compel parents to enter into care agreements involuntarily. Such agreements, I want to emphasise, must be voluntarily entered into. There may be situations where parents decline to comply with the advice of the Child Protection Service at an early stage. In such cases, the Child Protection Service will have to simply be extra watchful. Only if the situation worsens to the point that the child is in danger, or in need of care and protection as defined in Section 4, only then will an application to the Court for a formal care and protection order under Section 49 be made. So, we need to achieve the right balance.
Obtaining information to establish if child/young person is in need of care and protection
15 In line with the objective of early intervention, the Bill also proposes clarification to Section 8 to enable a Protector to make inquires where he has reasonable grounds to believe that a relevant offence has been, is being or will be committed against any child or young person or if any child or young person is in need of care or protection. Currently, the CYPA provides that the Protector may obtain information only when an offence is believed to have been committed in respect of a child or young person. However, there may be situations where a child is in need of care and protection, before an offence has actually been committed. Consequently, this amendment will enable a Protector to make inquiries at an earlier stage, so long as he has reasonable grounds to believe that such a child or young person is in need of care or protection. The objective in both these provisions is early intervention and early protection for the child and hopefully without having to drag the case and parents into the court. .
Enhancing the Management of Child Protection Cases
16 When a child is established to be in need of care and protection, it is important that such cases are managed in the best interest of the child. This Bill also seeks to enhance the management of child protection cases, in the following areas.
Protecting children or young persons who have been removed
17 Clause 10 of the Bill includes a proposed amendment that will allow the Protector to restrict access or require supervised access to a child or young person that has been removed under the CYPA. Such children usually require medical attention or temporary care while arrangements are being made to bring the case to Court within three days of the removal, for child protection proceedings. For example, there have been cases where the alleged perpetrator or the family members appear at the hospital to threaten or intimidate the child into retracting his or her statement. The priority during this period is to first ensure that the child is safe, secondly that the child receives the necessary medical and emotional treatment and that the child is not further re-victimised or harassed by the alleged perpetrator or perpetrators while the investigation is underway.
Exempting children and young persons from court appearances
18 Another area we are working on is exempting children from court proceedings. Court proceedings may very often be intimidating for children, especially when proceedings take place over several sessions, or if the perpetrator is in court in person. Clause 23 of the Bill proposes that the Court be given discretion to exempt a child or young person from having to attend court proceedings, in cases where it is assessed that court attendance may adversely affect the child.
Protecting the identity and privacy of the child or young person
19 Another area is in the protection for the privacy of children and young persons. In 2001, Section 35 was introduced in the CYPA which prohibits the publication or broadcast of information that would identify a child or young person involved in court proceedings. However, the child’s privacy may also be compromised during the investigation period leading up to the court proceedings, for example, and this is in real life, news reports, photographs of the child, identifying details of the child or sometimes even the address is made available in the mass media or the internet. Such exposure and infringement of privacy can negatively affect the recovery process for the child or young person. Clause 15 introduces a new provision that will extend current protections such that the identity of any child or young person who is or has been subject to an investigation under the CYPA, to such protection. In particular, this provision is meant to address the publication of information in the mass media or other broadcast or online platforms, but it does not prevent the sharing of information among the appropriate relevant professionals providing help to these children and young persons.
20 To further safeguard the child or young person’s privacy, another provision will be introduced to prevent breaches of confidentiality by persons who may be in receipt of information on the child that was shared with them in the process of exercising any powers or duties under the Act.
21 It is vital that the systems and processes put in place to protect children do not end up inadvertently further traumatising the child or young person. The amendments I have just elaborated on are key to ensuring that Singapore’s child protection system continues to be child centric, whilst efficient, expedient and safe.
Penalties for Sexual Exploitation
22 Sir, I would like to mention the penalties for sexual exploitation of children and young persons in the Act. The Bill proposes for the penalty for sexual exploitation of children and young persons under Section 7 to be raised from minimum 2 years imprisonment and maximum of 4 years, to a minimum of 5 years and maximum of 7 years. Penalties for sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful transfer of possession of a child and importation of a child under false pretences have been adjusted to align with penalties against similar offences in the Women’s Charter to ensure that equal protection is accorded to both boys and girls.
23 Serious child sexual abuse cases may also be prosecuted under the Penal Code which carries even higher penalties. The Penal Code had also been reviewed and amended in 2007. Under Section 376A, the penalty for sexual penetration of minor below the age of 16 years is 10 to 20 years of imprisonment. For less serious sexual offences, Sections 354 and 354A provide for imprisonment terms of 5 or 10 years where the victim is a minor below the age of 14 years. Together, the penalties within the CYPA and the Penal Code should provide for adequate deterrence against sexual exploitation of children and young persons.
Age Definitions of the Child
24 At this juncture, I would also like to address recent comments and discussions concerning age definitions of the child and young person. In our law, we currently define a child as a person below the age of 14 years. A young person is defined as a person 14 years or above and below 16 years.
25 During the public consultation of the Bill, we received sometimes contradictory suggestions on these age definitions. Some suggested increasing the threshold to 18 years, meaning more people will be defined as children and young persons, whilst others suggested decreasing the threshold to 15 years, especially in response to more violent episodes involving young people in recent times. We have decided not to make any changes to our long standing position. I would like to assure members that there are adequate safeguards and mechanisms to protect and rehabilitate older youth offenders who are 16 years or older. The Guidance Programme which is a court diversionary programme for first time offenders will be further extended to accommodate youths up to the age of 21 years. New community based sentencing options, such as the Community Service Order, Day Reporting Order, Mandatory Treatment Order, Short Detention Order and Community Work Order have also been provided for through amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code which came into effect on 2nd January. This allows for more rehabilitation options for the Community Court in dealing with offenders between 16 to 21 years of age, and for the continued approach of deterrence, restorative justice and rehabilitation of youth offenders. Where youth offenders are assessed not to be suitable for community based rehabilitation, reformative training is another option in lieu of imprisonment.
26 Our justice system is based on restorative, rehabilitative and deterrent elements. This approach has worked well to provide for a robust rehabilitation and protection system for youths and we should continue in this direction.
27 I know there has been calls to adjust the definitions of the child and young persons down to below the age of 15 years, thereby allowing those aged 15 and above to be dealt with outside of the juvenile justice system. The argument behind this call is that youths appear to mature at an earlier age compared to a generation ago.
28 While providing deterrence is one of the considerations for the juvenile justice system, I would like to emphasise that the objective of the CYPA and our juvenile justice system is not only to punish but also to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. I hope members of this House will agree that that we have the right balance at this point in time.
29 Sir, I would like to conclude with a note of caution. This Bill updates and improves our child protection framework. However, we must bear in mind that despite all our best efforts, there will, inevitably, be from time to time, some tragic cases. There may also be occasions when we may be over zealous in protecting children and young persons. We have to get the balance right, both in legislation and operationally on the ground. It is not an easy matter, but it is an important matter. I will add that the State cannot unilaterally protect all children and young persons. This is a sacred duty that all of us as parents, family members, members of the community, professionals, officials, and lawmakers will have to perform collectively.
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30 Sir, I beg to move.