Oral Reply to Parliamentary Questions on Managing Needs of Prison Inmates With Intellectual Disability

Questions:

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what training and assistance are provided to prison officers to equip them to handle prison inmates who have intellectual disability; and (b) what measures are put in place for such prison inmates to seek help in the event of any abuse or mistreatment by others around them.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs what are the specific support programmes available for prison inmates with intellectual disability during their incarceration especially when they have difficulties being separated from their caregivers.

Answer:

Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of National Development:

1. Training is provided to prison officers to manage and support inmates with special needs. New officers undergo training, as part of the Prison Officer Course, to develop understanding of their needs. The training also familiarises the officers with the support structures available for such inmates within the prison system. But we have to be realistic. Prison officers cannot be and are not trained to the level of qualified Counsellors. Special needs will have to be dealt with by accessing specialist expertise.

2. Since 2022, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) has also worked with the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS) to provide training for officers in areas like communication and behaviour management.

3. For inmates with intellectual disabilities, SPS modifies the content and delivery of rehabilitation services and programmes. For example, correctional rehabilitation specialists and psychologists who conduct the psychological-based correctional programmes would deliver the content to such inmates using bite-sized information, supplementary visual aids, and simplified language, or they would slow down the sessions to make it easier for the inmates to understand the content.

4. For those who are assessed to have adjustment issues, such as difficulties with being separated from their caregivers, SPS officers will engage them more frequently, in order to better understand their needs and support them. For inmates with more complex needs, SPS adopts a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach. The MDT comprises professionals and specialists like psychiatrists, prison psychologists, prison correctional rehabilitation specialists, and prison officers. The MDT decides on the behavioural management plans for inmates with mental and intellectual disabilities.

5. Inmates can report abuse through various channels, such as to the prison officers on duty at their Correctional Unit, or during their regular engagements with their respective Correctional Unit Officers. Inmates may also raise requests or complaints with the Superintendent of their Institution, or with the Visiting Justices during their regular visits. In addition, inmates’ cells are equipped with distress intercoms which inmates can activate if they require immediate assistance.

6. At the same time, SPS officers are trained to spot signs of inmate abuse when conducting their regular patrols and body searches. Any inmate who commits offences against other inmates would be subjected to investigation, and if found guilty, punished.