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Assisting the Needy
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To help the less fortunate through job-matching and social assistance schemes “The Community Development Councils build a CARING and cohesive community where people are PASSIONATE about making a difference in the lives of others”. The CDC administers various government programmes and schemes to help the needy residents. Providing Social Support and Job Assistance emphasise the importance of self-reliance and self-help to enable them to sustain themselves.The programmes and schemes provided by the CDC are :
Community Care Endowment Fund Schemes
The Community Care Endowment Fund (ComCare) was established in July 2005. Under ComCare, there are three pillars - ComCare Grow, ComCare Self Reliance and ComCare EnAble. The social assistance schemes under these three pillars are listed below:
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I. ComCare Grow
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*Information extracted from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports website
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| Scheme | Description | Type of Assistance | Criteria | | Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) | KiFAS education helps your child prepare for primary school. If you want to place your child in a kindergarten, but cannot afford the fees, you may apply for help under KiFAs. KiFAS is available at eligible non-profit kindergartens. Parents who qualify for the scheme will receive a fee subsidy every month. | KiFAS subsidises 90% of the monthly fees, up to $82 per month (or a maximum of $984 yearly), whichever is lower. For example, (i) If the child's fee is $40 per month, the KiFAS subsidy is $36 (90% of $40) and parents pay the remaining $4. (ii) If the child's fee is $100 per month, the maximum subsidy is $82 every month. Parents need to pay the remaining $18. A one-time Start-up Grant of up to $200 per child per year, for payment of registration fees, deposit, purchase of uniforms and insurance, and other charges. | (i) The child is a Singapore citizen or permanent resident of Singapore (PR); if the child is a PR, at least one of his/her immediate family members (i.e. parents or siblings) must be a Singapore citizen;
(ii) The child is enrolled in a K1 or K2 programme which meets the Ministry of Education's (MOE) cirricula guidelines. The programme is conducted in an eligible, secular, non-profit kindergarten and must be at least three hours long;
(iii) The household's net income is $1,500 per month or below; and
(iv) Borderline cases can be considered on case by case basis. | | Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC) | CFAC helps those who need to put their children in a childcare centre because they have to work, but have difficulties paying the fees. | CFAC provides a subsidy for your child’s childcare fee every month, up to a maximum amount shown in the table below. This subsidy is given in addition to the government childcare subsidy.
| (i) A child who is a Singapore citizen or permanent resident of Singapore (PR); at least one of his/her immediate family members (i.e. parents or siblings) must be a Singapore citizen; | | Monthly Household Income | Maximum CFAC subsidy per month for 1st / 2nd child | Maximum CFAC subsidy per month for 3rd / 4th child | Less than or equal to $500 | Up to $320 | Up to $260 | $501 - $1,000 | Up to $280 | Up to $190 | $1,001 - $1,500 | Up to $230 | Up to $140 |
A one-off assistance (Start-Up Grant) to meet the start-up costs of placing your child in a childcare centre may also be provided. | (ii) The child is below 7 years old;
(iii) The child attends a licensed child care centre;
(iv) The child is in the first, second, third or fourth birth order;
(v) The household's net income is $1,500 per month or below;
(vi) The child's mother is working or preparing for work (e.g. seeking employment or training); and
(vii) Borderline cases can be considered on case by case basis. | Student Care Fee Assistance(SCFA) | Student Care Centres (SCCs) provide before- or after-school care for children aged 7 to 14. If you need to put their child in a student care centre but cannot afford the fees, you may apply for help under SCFA. SCFA is also available to children with disabilities in Special Student Care Centres. For more information on this service, please refer to www.disability.org.sg. | SCFA subsidises your child’s Student Care Centre fees. The amount of subsidy will depend on the type of Student Care Centres your child attends and your household income. | (i) The child must be a Singapore citizen or permanent resident of Singapore (PR). If the child is a PR, then at least one immediate family member of the child must be a Singapore citizen;
(ii) The child is between 7 and 14 years of age and is attending a MOE-registered school;
(iii) The mother/single father is working full-time or part-time regularly; and
(iv) The family's monthly household income is $2,500 or below. |
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II. ComCare Self-Reliance
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*Information extracted from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports website
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| Scheme | Description | Type of Assistance | Criteria | Work Support Those placed on this programme are required to co-operate with the Work Support Consultant, a CDC officer, who will work out an action plan for you and your household to follow in order to become self-reliant. Your Work Support Consultant will keep in touch with you to make sure you are on track with the action plan. You must attend all the appointments that your Work Support Consultant makes with you. If you and/or your household do not co-operate with your Work Support Consultant or follow the action plan, you will be terminated from the programme. | Helps households with no working members find employment. | Depending on your household's situation, one or more of the following types of assistance may be provided: (i) Rental, utilities and/or service and conservancy charges vouchers; (ii) Monthly cash grant to meet basic needs; (iii) Childcare and student care subsidies; (iv) Training grant for approved courses; (v) Educational assistance; (vi) Medical assistance. (Note: the amount of assistance will be assessed by the Community Development Council (CDC) on a case-to-case basis) | The applicant must be a Singapore citizen or permanent resident of Singapore (PR). In addition, if the applicant is a PR, then at least one of the immediate family members must be a Singapore citizen. The applicant's household must: (i) Have a household income which is below $1,500 per month; (ii) Satisfy a needs test; (iii) Have little or no savings; (iv) Have little or no family and community support; and (v) Demonstrate the willingness to take steps to become self-reliant. |
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III. ComCare EnAble
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*Information extracted from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports website
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| Scheme | Description | Type of Assistance | Criteria | Public Assistance Scheme (PA) | PA assists those who are unable to work owing to old age, illness or disability and have no means of subsistence and no one to depend on. | PA recipients may get: (i) Cash Grants - Monthly cash grants to help with basic living expenses. (ii) Medical Assistance- Free treatment at polyclinics and government/ restructured hospitals. (iii) Education Assistance - Education assistance for your children to help with schooling expenses. The school-going children will be referred to the Ministry
of Education (MOE) for assistance under the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme. | Singapore citizens who: (i) are unable to work owing to old age, illness or unfavourable family circumstances; and (ii) Have no means of subsistence and no family members to depend on. |
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Social assistance schemes outside comcare umbrella: Home ownership plus education scheme
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*Information extracted from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports website
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| Scheme | Description | Type of Assistance | Criteria | Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme | HOPE is a targeted incentive scheme to help young low-income families keep their families small so they can concentrate their resources on their children and help them to break out of the poverty cycle. | (i) Educational bursaries for the children from pre-school up to university-level education.
(ii) A housing grant of $50,000 to help the family pay for the home mortgage. The grant will be disbursed in annual installments into the mother's CPF account.
(iii) A training grant of up to $10,000 per family to enable the parents to attend skills training. This grant will be divided equally between the parents in order to encourage the mother to acquire new skills and enhance her employability.
(iv) A one-off utilities grant of $1,000 to help the family offset utilities bills upon joining the scheme.
(v) Mentoring and family support from a social service agency to guide and follow-up on the family, and link them to other community resources if required.
(vi) Cash incentives of $6,000 - $9,000 to help the couple with family planning. The annual bursaries for the various educational levels are as follows:-
Preschool - $250 per annum
Primary - $400/- per annum
Secondary - $800 per annum
Junior college / polytechnic / ITE - $1,200 per annum
University - $2,000/- per annum
Special education - $600 per annum | (i) Married couples with one or two children. (ii) Either husband or wife must be a Singapore citizen, and the spouse must either be a citizen or a permanent resident of Singapore (PR). (iii) Have a monthly household* income of $1,500 or below. (iv) Age of the wife is 35** years or below. (v) Husband is employed. This scheme will also be extended to widows. * For families where at least one spouse has post-secondary education, niether spouse earns more than $1,000 per month each. ** For families where at least one spouse has post-secondary qualification, the wife must be aged 30-35 years old. |
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Other assistance scheme available : Primary Care Partnership Scheme
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| Scheme |
Description |
Type of Assistance |
Criteria |
| Primary Care Partnerhsip Scheme (PCPS) | Ministry of Health has engaged private practitioners (GPs) and dentist to provide common outpatient medical services and basic dental services to the needy elderly and disabled. Needy elderly or disabled need only to pay polyclinic charges when visiting these private clinics.
For downloadable softcopies of application forms, please visit the Ministry Of Health website @ www.moh.gov.sg.
At the MOH website, click on Healthcare Financing -> Primary Care Partnership Scheme. | The needy elderly or disabled will be presented with a Community Medical Benefits Cards which they can use at the participating GPs and dentist to get the subsidy. | (i)Currently under the Public Assistance (PA) Scheme; or
(ii)A Singapore Citizen who is 65 years old or above, with a per capita household monthly income of $700 or below; or
(iii)A Singapore citizen who is disabled with a per capita household monthly income of $700 and below and unable to perform at least one of the 6 activities of daily living (ADLs) such as washing/bathing; feeding; toileting; transferring; dressing; and mobility. |
Besides the national Social Assistance Schemes, the CDCs also administer other local programmes to meet the specific needs of the residents in the district. For more information on the CDC local programmes, please contact the CDC of the District you live in. Alternatively, you may visit the respective CDCs’ website. |
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Employment Assistance Services
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The CDCs provide free and customer-centric employment assistance services to residents of their Districts who may be retrenched or unemployed. These services include: (a) Job matching to help you look for suitable jobs; (b) Career coaching / counselling to enable you to be more confident in your job search; and (c) Training opportunities to upgrade your skills, broaden your job options and improve your chances of securing a job.
The CDCs also work closely with employers to meet their recruitment and manpower needs. For more details on the employment assistance services, please contact the CDC of the District you live in. You may use the CDC Search to find out which CDC you belong to.
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