SINGAPORE: For the last four years, Claire has been a foster mother to two children with special needs.
Both children have been diagnosed with global developmental delay and require numerous medical appointments, including speech therapy, paediatrician follow-ups, and dental visits.
However, unlike most parents who can book such appointments via the HealthHub mobile app, Claire is unable to do so.
Claire told CNA that she had access to the children’s HealthHub accounts until about the end of 2024, but no longer does.
CNA Games
Show More Show Less
Over the past year, she had to visit the hospital in person or call the hotline to make appointments, sometimes waiting close to 30 minutes on the phone before securing a slot.
“We used to be able to access their information online, and then somehow it was cancelled and we lost all the information about all the appointments,” she said.
“Everything started coming through SMS, which was very difficult because if you don’t really check in, you’ll miss the appointments.”
Claire is not the only foster parent who faces this issue.
During a parliamentary sitting in April, Nominated Member of Parliament Neo Kok Beng said foster parents did not have access to book medical appointments online and that some do not have access to other information, such as the child’s education. He asked about foster parents’ rights to do so.
Minister of State for Social and Family Development (MSF) Goh Pei Ming said foster parents are issued a letter from MSF that identifies them as the child’s caregiver under the ministry’s fostering scheme.
“This letter facilitates communications between the foster parents and the healthcare professionals to ensure that the medical needs are addressed.
“It also allows them to communicate through the school system to take care of the schooling and educational needs.”
10:36 Min
The Ministry of Social and Family Development will continue to grow the pool of foster parents so that more children in state care can be placed in safe and stable family-based settings. It has partnered fostering agencies, community organisations, religious groups and private organisations to raise awareness and recruit more foster families, as well as strengthen support measures. Minister of State for Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming highlighted the initiatives in reply to parliamentary questions on Wednesday (Apr 8). He told the House that about six per cent of foster parents were deregistered each year on average over the past three years due to reasons such as new family commitments, health or age-related factors and relocation.
Mr Goh acknowledged Dr Neo’s feedback and said it was consistent with what the ministry had heard from other foster parents.
He added that the ministry is working to provide foster parents with access to foster children’s education and healthcare information through HealthHub and Parents Gateway.
Foster parents help to provide alternative care arrangements for children and youths who may have been abused, neglected or abandoned.
It is a temporary care arrangement, with the aim of reuniting the children with their birth families once they are assessed to be able to care for the children.
Foster parents who spoke to CNA did so on condition of anonymity to protect their foster children's identities.
Ms Sue Chang-Koh, executive director of Home for Good, a charity that supports foster families, said that the lack of access is a “significant issue”.
“This group of vulnerable children should not in some way be disadvantaged because they’re in the fostering system.”
She acknowledged that there are challenges in making this arrangement work, as foster parents are not the children’s biological parents, despite being their legal guardians.
“I think MSF would have to navigate beyond just their ministry to settle this, and it will take time. It’s a complex issue that they have to address.”
For foster parents who currently face this issue, Ms Chang-Koh said a foster care worker would help to facilitate communication with biological parents to plan medical appointments.
For Claire, who has a chronic illness, keeping track of her health appointments as well as those of her two foster children has become increasingly difficult.
“It’s very hard to find information. I’ve got to scroll through lots and lots of information, especially since sometimes appointments are booked a year in advance.”
She also said that she had challenges accessing medical test results.
One example was how she could not get access to her foster son’s eye test results and had to go down to the hospital to get them.
“The most frustrating thing for me as a foster parent is not being able to see all their appointments on HealthHub, not being able to change my medical appointments easily, and not being able to get access to the results of their health or dental checks when they are done in their schools,” she said.
“It would be nice if we could see their records or information from medical appointments so that when they have another appointment, we can bring this information to the doctors.”
Apart from difficulties making appointments, another foster parent said she struggled with appointments being cancelled without her knowledge.
In 2023, Sally was fostering a four-year-old girl who had several disabilities, including an intellectual disability and autism. The child was also non-verbal.
Although Sally was bringing her foster daughter to the doctor, these appointments continued to be scheduled at the convenience of the biological parents, who were the ones with access to make the bookings.
This sometimes also meant that both Sally and the biological parents would be present for the appointments.
She added that on one occasion, the biological parents made a video call to relatives from the hospital to show them what Sally looked like, which left her feeling very uncomfortable.
“It makes it difficult when I have to bring my foster girl and I see the (biological) parents.
“I hope such things won’t happen again to other foster parents. If the foster parents are willing to take over this doctor visit on behalf of the parents, then let them be given full authority with the foster care officers.”
Sally said there were times when the biological parents would cancel the appointments if they were unable to make it, although she was still able to bring the child to these appointments.
When she tried to call to rebook an appointment, she would be given a much later date.
Similar to Claire, one of the biggest challenges Sally faced was accessing her foster daughter’s healthcare information.
Foster parents told CNA that such challenges caused significant emotional stress and strain, especially for those who are juggling work commitments and caring for a child.
“Technology such as the ... app plays an important role in streamlining access to healthcare for foster children, but it cannot replace the relational support many foster families need,” said Ms Chang-Koh.
“In our work at Home for Good Singapore, we’ve seen how programmes like Buddy for Good and Mentor for Good complement these systems by providing foster parents with the encouragement and guidance they need to navigate complex situations throughout their fostering journey,” she added.
The Buddy for Good programme provides trained befrienders to support foster children and families throughout their fostering journey, while the Mentor for Good programme pairs experienced foster parents with newer foster parents for guidance and support.
Responding to CNA’s queries, an MSF spokesperson said the ministry is working with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to provide all foster parents with access to HealthHub for their foster child.
“We aim to implement this by the second half of this year to give greater convenience to all foster parents,” MSF said.
Access to HealthHub was not the only challenge the foster parents raised, with some also struggling to get into other platforms their foster child needed.
Mark has been a foster parent since 2021 to a seven-year-old who has been diagnosed with global developmental delay and autism. The boy is under a long-term court order, he said.
However, Mark struggled to set up the boy’s Child Development Account (CDA) and only managed to do so earlier this year.
“If the account is not set up, the child will miss out on the top-ups from the government.”
The CDA is a special savings account that can be used for a child’s educational and healthcare expenses.
The First Step Grant is automatically deposited into the CDA and subsequent savings are co-matched by the government, up to a cap.
“For the longest time, we’ve been trying to get it set up. But the process and workflows are always tied back to the natural parents. So if the natural parents are not proactive and engaging, it will take a long time to get it set up,” Mark said.
He added that he has long-term plans to pay for the boy's health and education, and the funds in the CDA account would be useful. But when Mark set up the account earlier this year, a new issue arose.
He said the account details were sent to the biological parents, but he has been unable to retrieve them as they were not “proactively involved” in working with the foster care worker to pass the information on to him.
“So we have a weird situation where the parents can affect bad long-term outcomes for the child … The biological parent is not fit to take care of the child physically, but yet they are supposed to be fit to take care of the child for other matters.”
MSF said it supports foster parents by providing a monthly fostering allowance ranging from S$1,100 to S$1,800, depending on the child’s age and needs, to help defray childcare and other out-of-pocket expenses.
“The fostering allowance has taken into account all related expenses to support the child. In addition, foster children are eligible for childcare, student care and medical subsidies,” the ministry added.
Claire told CNA that she previously had challenges accessing her foster children’s Parents Gateway platform, a government mobile app that connects parents with schools, facilitating digital consent forms, announcements, and school activities.
"I managed to get on it, but the school needs to facilitate otherwise foster parents can’t get on it," she said.
"A lot of information comes through Parents Gateway, so you need to be on there," she added.
Claire added that in her situation, the foster child’s biological parents remain the main contact point for school matters. “Unless they are removed as the main contact, correspondence goes to them automatically.”
MSF told CNA that it is open to considering arrangements between foster and biological parents where appropriate, particularly to facilitate reunification of the child with the biological parents, and where it is in the child’s best interests.
“MSF will require more time to study this further as every child’s circumstance and caregiving arrangement is unique.”
Continue reading...
Both children have been diagnosed with global developmental delay and require numerous medical appointments, including speech therapy, paediatrician follow-ups, and dental visits.
However, unlike most parents who can book such appointments via the HealthHub mobile app, Claire is unable to do so.
Claire told CNA that she had access to the children’s HealthHub accounts until about the end of 2024, but no longer does.
CNA Games
Show More Show Less
Over the past year, she had to visit the hospital in person or call the hotline to make appointments, sometimes waiting close to 30 minutes on the phone before securing a slot.
“We used to be able to access their information online, and then somehow it was cancelled and we lost all the information about all the appointments,” she said.
“Everything started coming through SMS, which was very difficult because if you don’t really check in, you’ll miss the appointments.”
Claire is not the only foster parent who faces this issue.
During a parliamentary sitting in April, Nominated Member of Parliament Neo Kok Beng said foster parents did not have access to book medical appointments online and that some do not have access to other information, such as the child’s education. He asked about foster parents’ rights to do so.
Minister of State for Social and Family Development (MSF) Goh Pei Ming said foster parents are issued a letter from MSF that identifies them as the child’s caregiver under the ministry’s fostering scheme.
“This letter facilitates communications between the foster parents and the healthcare professionals to ensure that the medical needs are addressed.
“It also allows them to communicate through the school system to take care of the schooling and educational needs.”
10:36 Min
The Ministry of Social and Family Development will continue to grow the pool of foster parents so that more children in state care can be placed in safe and stable family-based settings. It has partnered fostering agencies, community organisations, religious groups and private organisations to raise awareness and recruit more foster families, as well as strengthen support measures. Minister of State for Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming highlighted the initiatives in reply to parliamentary questions on Wednesday (Apr 8). He told the House that about six per cent of foster parents were deregistered each year on average over the past three years due to reasons such as new family commitments, health or age-related factors and relocation.
Mr Goh acknowledged Dr Neo’s feedback and said it was consistent with what the ministry had heard from other foster parents.
He added that the ministry is working to provide foster parents with access to foster children’s education and healthcare information through HealthHub and Parents Gateway.
Foster parents help to provide alternative care arrangements for children and youths who may have been abused, neglected or abandoned.
It is a temporary care arrangement, with the aim of reuniting the children with their birth families once they are assessed to be able to care for the children.
Foster parents who spoke to CNA did so on condition of anonymity to protect their foster children's identities.
ACCESS TO HEALTH INFORMATION
Ms Sue Chang-Koh, executive director of Home for Good, a charity that supports foster families, said that the lack of access is a “significant issue”.
“This group of vulnerable children should not in some way be disadvantaged because they’re in the fostering system.”
She acknowledged that there are challenges in making this arrangement work, as foster parents are not the children’s biological parents, despite being their legal guardians.
“I think MSF would have to navigate beyond just their ministry to settle this, and it will take time. It’s a complex issue that they have to address.”
For foster parents who currently face this issue, Ms Chang-Koh said a foster care worker would help to facilitate communication with biological parents to plan medical appointments.
For Claire, who has a chronic illness, keeping track of her health appointments as well as those of her two foster children has become increasingly difficult.
“It’s very hard to find information. I’ve got to scroll through lots and lots of information, especially since sometimes appointments are booked a year in advance.”
She also said that she had challenges accessing medical test results.
One example was how she could not get access to her foster son’s eye test results and had to go down to the hospital to get them.
“The most frustrating thing for me as a foster parent is not being able to see all their appointments on HealthHub, not being able to change my medical appointments easily, and not being able to get access to the results of their health or dental checks when they are done in their schools,” she said.
“It would be nice if we could see their records or information from medical appointments so that when they have another appointment, we can bring this information to the doctors.”
Related:
Apart from difficulties making appointments, another foster parent said she struggled with appointments being cancelled without her knowledge.
In 2023, Sally was fostering a four-year-old girl who had several disabilities, including an intellectual disability and autism. The child was also non-verbal.
Although Sally was bringing her foster daughter to the doctor, these appointments continued to be scheduled at the convenience of the biological parents, who were the ones with access to make the bookings.
This sometimes also meant that both Sally and the biological parents would be present for the appointments.
She added that on one occasion, the biological parents made a video call to relatives from the hospital to show them what Sally looked like, which left her feeling very uncomfortable.
“It makes it difficult when I have to bring my foster girl and I see the (biological) parents.
“I hope such things won’t happen again to other foster parents. If the foster parents are willing to take over this doctor visit on behalf of the parents, then let them be given full authority with the foster care officers.”
Sally said there were times when the biological parents would cancel the appointments if they were unable to make it, although she was still able to bring the child to these appointments.
When she tried to call to rebook an appointment, she would be given a much later date.
Similar to Claire, one of the biggest challenges Sally faced was accessing her foster daughter’s healthcare information.
Foster parents told CNA that such challenges caused significant emotional stress and strain, especially for those who are juggling work commitments and caring for a child.
“Technology such as the ... app plays an important role in streamlining access to healthcare for foster children, but it cannot replace the relational support many foster families need,” said Ms Chang-Koh.
“In our work at Home for Good Singapore, we’ve seen how programmes like Buddy for Good and Mentor for Good complement these systems by providing foster parents with the encouragement and guidance they need to navigate complex situations throughout their fostering journey,” she added.
The Buddy for Good programme provides trained befrienders to support foster children and families throughout their fostering journey, while the Mentor for Good programme pairs experienced foster parents with newer foster parents for guidance and support.
Responding to CNA’s queries, an MSF spokesperson said the ministry is working with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to provide all foster parents with access to HealthHub for their foster child.
“We aim to implement this by the second half of this year to give greater convenience to all foster parents,” MSF said.
NOT JUST HEALTH RECORDS
Access to HealthHub was not the only challenge the foster parents raised, with some also struggling to get into other platforms their foster child needed.
Mark has been a foster parent since 2021 to a seven-year-old who has been diagnosed with global developmental delay and autism. The boy is under a long-term court order, he said.
However, Mark struggled to set up the boy’s Child Development Account (CDA) and only managed to do so earlier this year.
“If the account is not set up, the child will miss out on the top-ups from the government.”
The CDA is a special savings account that can be used for a child’s educational and healthcare expenses.
The First Step Grant is automatically deposited into the CDA and subsequent savings are co-matched by the government, up to a cap.
“For the longest time, we’ve been trying to get it set up. But the process and workflows are always tied back to the natural parents. So if the natural parents are not proactive and engaging, it will take a long time to get it set up,” Mark said.
He added that he has long-term plans to pay for the boy's health and education, and the funds in the CDA account would be useful. But when Mark set up the account earlier this year, a new issue arose.
He said the account details were sent to the biological parents, but he has been unable to retrieve them as they were not “proactively involved” in working with the foster care worker to pass the information on to him.
“So we have a weird situation where the parents can affect bad long-term outcomes for the child … The biological parent is not fit to take care of the child physically, but yet they are supposed to be fit to take care of the child for other matters.”
MSF said it supports foster parents by providing a monthly fostering allowance ranging from S$1,100 to S$1,800, depending on the child’s age and needs, to help defray childcare and other out-of-pocket expenses.
“The fostering allowance has taken into account all related expenses to support the child. In addition, foster children are eligible for childcare, student care and medical subsidies,” the ministry added.
Claire told CNA that she previously had challenges accessing her foster children’s Parents Gateway platform, a government mobile app that connects parents with schools, facilitating digital consent forms, announcements, and school activities.
"I managed to get on it, but the school needs to facilitate otherwise foster parents can’t get on it," she said.
"A lot of information comes through Parents Gateway, so you need to be on there," she added.
Claire added that in her situation, the foster child’s biological parents remain the main contact point for school matters. “Unless they are removed as the main contact, correspondence goes to them automatically.”
MSF told CNA that it is open to considering arrangements between foster and biological parents where appropriate, particularly to facilitate reunification of the child with the biological parents, and where it is in the child’s best interests.
“MSF will require more time to study this further as every child’s circumstance and caregiving arrangement is unique.”
Continue reading...