Fostering in Singapore
Fostering is when volunteer families provide food, shelter, clothing and love to children who are in need. The Fostering Scheme serves as an alternative care arrangement for children in need of a conducive home environment. It is usually a short-term arrangement to meet the emergency care needs of a child.
In some cases, it may become a long-term care arrangement if the parents / guardians are unable to work out suitable care arrangements for their children.
A child on the foster scheme keeps his/her own identity and continues to be a legal child of his/her natural parents. This is different from adoption, where the adopted child assumes the rights of a natural child of the family through a legal process.
For more information, you may:-
- Call Ministry of Social and Family Development at its toll-free telephone number 1800-777 0000;
- Call its enquiry line : 6354-8799;
- Visit its websites (Fostering Scheme, Enable a Family Volunteer Scheme)
(Adapted from the Ministry of Social Development and Family website).
OR, you may visit the Home for Good website, or facebook page, where you can read stories by foster parents, or sign up for its informal sharing sessions, where you can hear first-hand from foster parents about the whys and hows of fostering. Hear them share the practical challenges of fostering a child, and be encouraged by how they overcame them.
Do read my personal story on why I chose to be a foster carer, and my experiences (“Precious in God’s sight“, “Mediating Grace”, “When life meets life”, “It’s for the moments”, “Good bye baby”, “To simply love”). See also an interview by Jenn of Mylilbookworm, where I answered some questions about my fostering journey.
Do also visit Our Fostering Journey – Love beyond Kinship where Dorcas blogs about her family’s fostering journey.
Hi,
would like to go for the Feb workshop on fostering. Pls update me on the venue. 🙂 I’ve subscribed to ur blog too. 🙂
jeanne
Hi Jeanne!
Great! We will keep you updated! 🙂
Hi, we are keen to attend the February session. Thanks!
Great! We will keep you informed of the details.
Hi Elisa
my husband and I are keen to attend the sharing session in May 🙂
Hi, I’m really touched by all your posts. Recently started considering fostering but not in the next couple of years as my husband and I are going overseas for missions and we have only been on our parenting journey for abt 2 years with no. 2 on the way…thank you for your inspiring sharing which is also practical as well. Would be interested to continue learning more about your journey ahead!
Hi Janice! That’s great to hear. I have come to learnt, that our families are God’s tools. May your family, especially your children, be a blessing to many 🙂
Hi Elisa
Having read your testimony has really enable us to seriously consider embarking on the journey to foster. We have thoughts early this year, however, waiting for confirmation from the Lord to guide and lead us. Would be able to provide me with information on the process of the application and its duration after submitting the application. Thank you very much.
Hi Mimi
That’s great to hear.
You would need to fill in an application form, which requires information on your income, household, experience in caring for children. You may also indicate your preference for the age and gender of the foster child.
You would go through some screening, including health.
After that, there would be a detailed interview of your husband and you, including your parenting philosophies among other things. There will also be a home visit, during which they will also interview your children and whoever is staying with you (for my case, that was only my domestic helper).
Once the approval is granted, we wait.
The wait may be long, because it really depends on the need. That is to say, if there is no child who needs to be removed, you won’t be assigned a child. And even if there is a child, he/she may not fit your preference, and life-stage/home environment.
But when there is a need, it can happen very fast.
Hi Elisa
Thank you for the info.