Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on After-Arrest Mental Healthcare Provided to People with Mental Illnesses by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Question:

Assoc. Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs what after-arrest mental health care is provided to people with mental illnesses involved in incidents resulting in their arrest.

Answer:

1. After arrest, where the Police are aware that a person is mentally ill, the Police will arrange for a trained volunteer to be with the mentally ill person during interviews with the investigation officer.

2. By the end of 2018, the Police intend to pilot the Home Team Community Assistance and Referral Scheme (HT CARES) at a Land Division, inter alia, for arrested persons who need treatment for mental illnesses. Under the scheme, social workers contracted by the Police (known as CARES officers) will work with the offender to identify underlying issues that could have led to the commission of the offence. We will study the effectiveness of this pilot, before deciding on the next steps.More details will be released later.