Proportion of inmates with dependent children below age of 18 and tracking outcomes of children of incarcerated parents

Question:

Mr Victor Lye: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what proportion of inmates have dependent children below the age of 18; and (b) whether the Ministry tracks outcomes for children of incarcerated parents, including educational attainment and involvement in youth offending.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs:

1. As of 31 December 2024, 15.4% of inmates under the custody of the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) have at least one child below the age of 18 years old. SPS does not actively track outcomes for children of incarcerated parents.

2. The Ministry of Home Affairs recognises that incarceration impacts the inmate and family members.

3. A 2017 study done by the SPS found that about one in five incarcerated parents had at least one child who subsequently offended.^[1] The study also found that these children tended to come into contact with the criminal justice system at a younger age than their parents. The findings highlighted the importance of strengthening family and social protective factors to mitigate the risk of intergenerational offending.

4. To address this, inmates with children below the age of 21 years old are proactively identified by SPS upon their admission into prison. With the inmate’s consent, social workers will assess the family’s needs and refer them to appropriate community resources.

5. SPS also collaborates with community partners through various programmes to assist the families of inmates, including children. For example, the Yellow Ribbon Community Project is a grassroots-led programme where trained volunteers reach out to and support the families of inmates, if they opt into this programme. If necessary, volunteers will also link the families up with existing community resources, such as social service agencies and Family Service Centres. These initiatives help to cushion the impact of parental incarceration.

Note(s) to Question No(s) 13:

^[1] This study examined a 10-year cohort of drug offenders admitted between 2008 and 2017.