Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders (“CARE”) Network Summit 2025 – Speech by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs

Associate Professor Faishal Ibrahim, Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs,

Ms Shie Yong Lee, Commissioner of Prisons,

Mr Phillip Tan, Chairman of Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG),

Mr Sunny Lee, Chief Executive of YRSG,

Our Network Partners,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

And to all our visitors from overseas,

Introduction

1. Good morning, and welcome to this morning’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of the CARE Network.

2. The CARE Network plays a really important role of bringing together agencies in the correctional landscape, to look after, think about, and be very intentional, to coordinate aftercare, rehabilitation and reintegration services. Before this Network was established, agencies provided support to ex-offenders and their families but very much uncoordinated, and largely in isolation of each other.

3. There was then a growing recognition that successful rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-offenders require a very deliberate, coordinated, and community-wide approach. And it is in this context, the CARE Network was established back in the year 2000, with 7 core members.  Today, I’m very happy to see that this Network comprises 10 core members and over 170 community partners.

4. The CARE Network provides a platform for collaboration, for coming together, sharing best practices and knowledge-sharing among partners who are united in the mission of helping our inmates, ex-offenders and perhaps more importantly, their families as well. I believe they have come a long way in their collective effort to transform lives. I would like you this morning to join me to give another round of applause to all the staff, all the volunteers and everyone involved in the CARE Network over the last 25 years. Thank you very much!

5. I also want to take this opportunity this morning to specifically thank Mr Jeffrey Beh. Jeffrey is one of the co-founders of the CARE Network and he will be stepping down as the Chairman of the Singapore Aftercare Association, or SACA, after a sterling 28 years of work.

6. Under his leadership, SACA launched various initiatives to better support inmates and their families. For example, through SACA’s Volunteer Aftercare Programme, many volunteers have been trained to help inmates and their families navigate the many challenges, and the complexities of these challenges, that they face during their rehabilitation and reintegration journey.

7. Jeffrey, thank you very much. I wish you all the very best. No doubt, you will still be in this space. I told Jeffrey earlier when I met him. He has got three loves: first, SACA; second, his work as a lawyer and; third, he loves his football. So, happy retirement. But, he won't be very far away from us.

Correctional Practice and Research Symposium

8. Today is also a special day because it marks the first time that the CARE Network Summit is held together with the Correctional Practice and Research Symposium, or CPRS. The CPRS was first organised by the Singapore Prison Service, or SPS, in 2023, to showcase evidence-informed rehabilitation practices by SPS and its community partners.

9. The CPRS also provides SPS and its community partners with an opportunity to engage with members of the Correctional Science and Research Network, or CSRN. The CSRN was set up by SPS as a platform for professional engagement and research collaboration. I welcome the members of the CSRN to this Summit.

10. Over the years, SPS has established evidence-based rehabilitation programmes, with a very strong focus on research and evaluation. Evidence-based means it is thought through, it is deliberate, we've studied it, and it's long term and sustainable. Psychology-based correctional programmes developed by SPS’s specialists are based on established correctional theories, such as the Risk-Needs-Responsivity Model, and are consistently evaluated and re-evaluated to ensure that they remain effective.

11. Today, SPS is also launching its latest book on Group Work in Correctional Rehabilitation, which brings together the collective expertise of 31 local practitioners working across the entire spectrum of Singapore’s correctional system. The book is a collation of their research, and case-studies which bring to life these research points, and case studies they had come across during their many years of practice. This is a highly commendable effort and I believe it will contribute significantly to the advancement of knowledge within the corrections community.

Update on Focus Areas of CARE Network

12. As we come together to celebrate the CARE Network’s 25th anniversary, it is also, I believe, timely to take some moments to reflect on our progress. It is often useful to look back to think about the steps ahead and the future of CARE Network. So, let me briefly touch on three areas which the CARE Network has focused on in recent years.

Training of Volunteers

13. First, the training of volunteers. The number of volunteers has climbed beyond 4,000 and continues to grow. We have put in place programmes to strengthen the capabilities of our partners and volunteers alike.

14. For example, SPS conducts structured training programmes for participants in the areas of managing addiction, family work, and restorative practice.

15. The training is also tiered, and the progression in responsibilities held by volunteers and partners is tied to the progression in their skills competencies.

16. The suite of training courses has now been expanded to 40 courses, and these include 18 e-learning courses to make the training even more accessible to volunteers.

Throughcare Support

17. The second area of focus of the CARE Network is strengthening throughcare support for inmates.

18. In 2019, SPS introduced the Throughcare Volunteer Framework, or “TVF”. This means that volunteers who have been supporting inmates whilst they are in prison, continue to do so after the inmates have been released. I think this is a very critical period of time, especially the immediate period after they have been released from prison. TVF began modestly with 3 partners. But today, we have 32 partners with over 1,900 TVF volunteers, all of them coming together, providing a strong scaffold and framework to support ex-offenders.

19. As gainful employment is a big part and a key to successful reintegration, Yellow Ribbon Singapore, or YRSG, partners with over 6,700 employers to provide ex-offenders with good career opportunities. And, I think having a viable job, one that gives you self-esteem, one that allows you to plug back into society, into the system is a significant part of why the programs have been successful.

20. Expanding the network of support has enriched our throughcare ecosystem. Many inmates and ex-offenders have benefitted, including Mr Mohammad Hairi Bin Rohani.

21. Let me share a little bit about Hairi’s story. Hairi’s struggle with substance abuse began when he was 11 years old. He served multiple stints in the Drug Rehabilitation Centre, DRC, and was released from his last incarceration in 2021. Whilst he was incarcerated, he benefitted from various programmes conducted by CARE Network partners.

22. After his release, YRSG supported Hairi in finding stable employment. The Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association, or SANA, assisted Hairi through its Continuing Care Support Group, and helped him build back his sense of self-esteem and confidence at work through upskilling courses such as public speaking workshops.

23. Today, Hairi is giving back, by being a part of the very same support groups that helped him rebuild his life. He volunteers with SANA, and with FITRAH to support other ex-offenders in the journey. Sometimes, having someone in that position, having gone through that journey, experienced it and come through, is perhaps the best mentorship and best guidance that one could have. Through his full-time job at ISCOS, and involvement in Ultimate Friends SG, a support group that he had co-founded with his wife, he now uses his lived experience to inspire hope among ex-offenders.

24. Hairi is here with us today. Let us give him a big round of applause. Thank you very much, Hairi. Please continue to share your journey, share your stories, inspire and build hope for other persons who were once in your journey. Thank you very much.

Empowering Desistors

25. Hairi’s story brings me to the third area of focus and that is empowering desistors.

26. In 2023, SPS launched the Desistor Network to give ex-offenders a platform to give back and help others turn away from a life of crime and drugs.

27. Today, over a hundred desistors like Hairi volunteer in the Desistor Network, to support and share their experiences with inmates and ex-offenders. Some have even gone further, and partner with SPS as volunteer case officers for supervisees on community-based programmes.

Focus for Next Five Years

28. The collective work of the CARE Network, I think has paid off. Today, Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world due to our robust criminal justice system, which is supported by strict laws, tough enforcement, as well as – and I think this merits emphasis – an effective correctional and community aftercare system. Oftentimes, Singapore is seen as having tough laws and strict system, but I think equally invested, our system plays a lot of weight on aftercare, reintegration and rehabilitation.

29. From 40.1% in 2000 when the CARE Network was formed, our two-year recidivism rate has declined to 21.3% for the 2022 release cohort. It is one of the lowest internationally. The five-year recidivism rate for the 2019 cohort was 36.6%. This marks the third consecutive year where it has dropped below 40%. And I believe this could not have been achieved by one by one single entity alone, but it is really as a consequence of the collective effort of our CARE Network partners and volunteers. And it is to them more than just a job, more than just a role. It is the entire mindshare, the entire desire to want to help ex-offenders and to help society get back on its feet.

30. In the next five years, the CARE Network will use its new GROW Framework to strengthen the aftercare ecosystem and further improve recidivism outcomes.

31. G-R-O-W, as I said earlier, is another acronym. It stands for the following:

(a) G is for galvanising the growth of the aftercare support sector. We will make commitment to implement more cross-sector mentorship programmes, creating more platforms to learn, and deepen expertise.

(b) R is for reducing the duplication of services and programmes. We will assess the needs, identify the gaps and do as much as we can to reduce duplicative services.

(c) This then brings me to O, which stands for optimising resources. In September, the CARE Network will host the Yellow Ribbon-CARE Network Gala Dinner to jointly raise funds for various members, leveraging on shared resources and networks to maximise donor outreach.

(d) Lastly, W is for widening the network of stakeholders and I think that's a really key part of growth. We can only grow if we widen and welcome more stakeholders into the network. We want to cultivate new partnerships, including with partners from other sectors as well, to more holistically address the needs of inmates, ex-offenders and their families. As society evolves and grows, so must this network, because this network must represent something that is close to or commensurate with the real society that ex-offenders come back into and want to be reintegrated into. So, the more we are growing, the more we are evolving, the more relevant it will continue to be for our inmates. So, for example, ISCOS has collaborated with the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants to conduct financial literacy workshops for ex-offenders and their families.

32. This is how the CARE Network will move forward – not just growing in numbers, but really growing as a whole, strengthening one another, reinforcing one another as a strong ecosystem, reaching out to and helping more people in the process.

Conclusion

33. As I conclude, let me just make another point. Supporting the rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates and ex-offenders is really a whole-of-society effort. I am very encouraged, as I look around the room today to see the presence of so many of you here today. Earlier on, before stepping in, I was chatting with different people across the spectrum of the network. I’m very encouraged by the depth of commitment and the range of expertise that we see in this network. So, let us continue to help effect lasting and positive change to the lives of inmates, ex-offenders, and their families. Through the work that we do, the impact that we can make on society, to make Singapore more inclusive, to grow as one and to make it more harmonious society is not to be underestimated That is really the impact of the work that we do.

34. So, I wish everyone a very fruitful Summit. Thank you very much.