Creating a restorative climate Part 1

[Gerard Ee Huck LIan]

Just sharing an exercise we prepared for some social work students.  The first part is the challenge and the second , our suggestions and "answers." Thought you may find some of the concepts we took from a Six-Sigma Lean Management book useful.

Restorative Neighbourhood Project – Beyond Social Services, Singapore

Background

Beyond Social Services is a charity dedicated to reducing delinquency among children and youths from less privileged backgrounds. Our target population resides in government rental housing areas dedicated for the low-income. The families we are in touch with are from the lower end of the low-income spectrum, having a per capita income of $180 to $240 per month which is way below the $450 to $550 per capita income required for any social assistance in Singapore. 

Singapore’s housing policy encourages home-ownership as an asset that can be liquidated for expenses during retirement. By and large the policy has worked well as citizens aspire to own homes and there are only 258 rental flats across the country for those unable to participate in the home ownership programme.   Beyond’s work is with 27 such flats and the situation below happened within a neighbourhood of 3 blocks with a total of 1080 households. 

The children mentioned live in the neighbourhood and we have been told by their neighbours that they are often hanging around because there is probably not enough space at home. Their parents are often not at home and when they are, they are quite happy to have their children out of the flat as they need their rest and privacy.  Residents perceived these parents as irresponsible, unfriendly and even argumentative when appr

Discussion

1. Singapore has a well organised social service infrastructure of 48 Family Service Centres spread out across the country that are run by Voluntary Welfare Organisations and funded by the government. There are also  20 Social Service Offices run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development  that serve as touch points for the less privileged.  Perhaps, this social service infrastructure has similarities in Sweden but how do you think social services would respond to children engaged in risky behaviours such as inhalant abuse, truancy from school and such? http://app.msf.gov.sg/Assistance/Multiple-Lines-of-Assistance#box03

 2  As an organisation guided by the helping principles below, what indeed can be an alternative to calling the authorities and sending the children to an institution?

·         We must not act on behalf of people where there is a potential conflict of interest. ·         It is in the best interests of children to remain with their families. Residential care must always be a short-term arrangement. ·         Help should build on people's strengths and not simply remedy their weaknesses. ·         A helping relationship is a respectful partnership between us and the people we engage. ·         Social problems are best resolved within the community and we avoid criminal or judiciary proceedings where possible. ·         The essence of family life is co-operation, not togetherness.

 3. What possible working frameworks could guide you in such a situation? Explain the advantages of doing so.

4. Describe a desired outcome from your intervention and how you would go about trying to reach it.

 

 

[Marie Lamboray]

Traduction (en partie)

Contexte

Beyond Social Services est un organisme de bienfaisance voué à la réduction de la délinquance chez les enfants et les jeunes issus de milieux moins favorisés. Notre population cible réside dans les zones de logements locatifs publics destinés aux familles à faible revenu. Les familles avec lesquelles nous sommes en contact sont en bas de l’échelle des revenus avec une rémunération de 180 $ à 240 $ par mois par habitant qui est bien inférieur au revenu de 450 $ à 550 $ par habitant qui autorise à bénéficier de l'aide sociale à Singapour.

La politique de logement de Singapour encourage l’accession à la propriété. C’est un capital qui peut être liquidé pour faire face aux dépenses pendant la retraite. De manière générale, cette politique a bien fonctionné car les citoyens aspirent à posséder une maison et il n'y a que 258 appartements en location à travers le pays pour ceux qui ne pourront participer au programme d’accession à la propriété. Le travail de Beyond s’articule autour de 27 de ces appartements et l’histoire ci-dessous s’est déroulée dans un quartier de 3 blocs où habitent 1080 ménages. 

Les enfants impliqués dans cette histoire vivent dans ce quartier et nous avons été informés par leurs voisins qu'ils trainent souvent à l’extérieur parce qu’il n’y a probablement pas assez de place chez eux. Leurs parents sont souvent absents et quand ils sont chez eux, ils sont très heureux que leurs enfants soient hors de l'appartement car ils ont besoin de repos et d'intimité. Ces parents sont perçus par les autres résidents comme irresponsables, antipathiques et même chicaneurs lorsqu'on essaye de leur parler de leurs enfants.

Traduit avec l'aide de Google Traduction