SINGAPORE: When Edward (not his real name) first unpacked his belongings in his new room, he felt triumphant.
“I’ve won in life already,” he thought as he moved into a flat — at age 19 — with three others he had grown up with at Melrose Home.
The residential care facility, run by the Children’s Aid Society (CAS), is for children and youth aged seven to 21 with adverse family circumstances, such as abuse and neglect.
And after nearly a decade of dormitories and fixed routines, Edward had his own bedroom and could arrange things however he liked. He could choose what to cook, when to head out and stay up as late as he wanted.
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The exterior of Melrose Home at its temporary site on Boon Lay Avenue.
But responsibilities soon hit him harder than he had expected. He struggled to keep up the rent as expenses piled up, and he borrowed from a flatmate at times to make ends meet.
“It was a big reality (check),” he said. “We had no clue (about) the cost … of living outside.”
About 500 children and adolescents are in out-of-home residential care in Singapore. By the time they turn 21, about 30 individuals a year will age out of care without being able to reintegrate with their families.
Without support, the transition to independent living can be especially challenging for care leavers like Edward, with housing among their most pressing concerns.
Edward asked not to be identified.
A lack of stable housing can push some of them back to unsafe families or to couch-surf until these arrangements fall apart, while others remain in unhealthy relationships to avoid homelessness, said Soh Ying Si, 34, Melrose Home’s acting head.
When survival becomes the priority, education and long-term career plans often take a back seat, entrenching care leavers in poverty and instability, she added.
That is why CAS launched Thrive21+ in 2022, a three-year programme supporting youth aged 17 and above as they prepare for adulthood.
It includes a two-year housing component for those with little or no family support, whereby they share a rented flat with ongoing guidance from social workers.
Social workers Lim Yan Xiu (left), an assistant senior caseworker, and Soh Ying Si, Melrose Home’s acting head.
While CAS covers housing costs including rent and utilities, participants contribute an amount depending on the payment plan they propose.
From their search for housing to the cost of freedom, it was a steep learning curve for the inaugural batch of participants including Edward. What helped, though, was having staff there when they stumbled.
Now 22, Edward is working full-time and renting another flat, this time provided under the Joint Singles Scheme (JSS) as one of the exceptional cases where the Housing and Development Board (HDB) may exercise flexibility.
Money for rent is the first thing he sets aside each month, and he tracks his spending carefully. He has also made repayment to Melrose Home for the rent he missed previously.
Edward catching up with Soh and Lim in his one-room public rental flat.
For youths like him, the three years in Thrive21+ can be a turning point, CNA Insider finds out.
The year before the youths moved out, Melrose Home ran workshops on Singapore’s rental market and the hidden costs of independent living. But securing a flat proved more difficult than any workshop could prepare them for.
PropNex agent Patrick Yin, who briefed them on tenancy agreements and landlord expectations — and handled their search for a reduced fee — did anticipate a “high rejection rate”.
Landlords, who are concerned about payment reliability and upkeep, tend to prefer working adults and families, he said. Four young men aged 19 to 21 who were studying or serving National Service (NS) were seen as a risk, he added.
With a budget of S$4,000 (US$3,100) a month for a unit in the west — closer to Melrose Home in Boon Lay — he contacted nearly 40 landlords. Only five of them agreed to viewings.
In one instance, a family secured a unit within an hour of viewing it alongside the youths, whose search stretched over a period of nearly three months.
Even a CAS letter promising financial support and regular staff checks did little to reassure landlords.
“To put it very bluntly, they’re scared that at that age, the (youths) will trash their place,” said Yin, adding that some landlords assume those from residential care are “delinquents”.
Melrose Home residents racing up the stairs at its Clementi Road site, which is being redeveloped. (File photo: Children’s Aid Society)
Such stereotypes are misplaced, said Soh, as many youths move into residential care owing to trauma and abuse, not because they are “bad kids”.
Housing, along with finances and isolation, was among the top concerns for care leavers in a study last year by CAS and Quantedge Foundation (Singapore).
Among respondents who were earning, including those who were receiving NS allowance, their median monthly income was S$800 and their average income was S$1,137. At that level, the private rental market is typically unaffordable for care leavers, the study noted.
That is why Thrive21+ helps to cover rental costs. And when one landlord finally agreed to rent a five-room flat to the programme’s participants, it felt like a breakthrough for them.
Edward and the three other youths found a place to rent in mid-2023.
Edward skimmed the tenancy agreement, trusting Melrose Home’s staff to handle the details. “We just wanted to get the house,” he said.
The move in July 2023 meant, however, stepping away from a life where “everything was taken care of for you”, he later reflected. “(Independence) was something I wanted. But at the same time, I think I wasn’t fully ready.”
One of the first shocks for Edward came when he found that there was less than S$200 in his bank account.
After a few weeks of spending his NS allowance on outings with friends and entertainment, he suddenly worried about whether he could afford food until his next payday.
Embarrassed, he approached a flatmate to cover his share of rent. “After all that fun, then I was like, ‘Okay, was it worth it?’” Edward recalled.
Edward began to realise he “wasn’t spending wisely”.
Before moving in, he had proposed contributing S$65 a month towards rent, with a gradual increase to S$1,000 as his income and savings grew. But his payment plan fell through twice, and he had to revise his proposal each time.
He was also disqualified from a Thrive21+ savings programme after spending a S$100 monthly contribution from Melrose Home that was intended for him to set aside.
Looking back, he acknowledged that he had been “irresponsible” as he struggled to accept that independence meant taking charge of every aspect of his life. “Basically, if I didn’t grow up, … then I’d be cooked,” he said.
These missteps are unsurprising as impulsive spending is common among youth in residential care, according to Soh.
Soh providing CNA Insider with access to Melrose Home.
Deciding how to spend their money can feel like one of the few choices that is truly theirs after growing up with little control over their lives.
“Of course, it’s not easy when we see them make bad decisions,” Soh said, adding that sometimes these lessons must be learnt “the hard way”.
She stressed, however, that expecting 19- to 21-year-olds without family backing to shoulder the full expense of open market rents is “not realistic” — and that Thrive21+ is meant to give them support and space to practise independent living.
When the participants’ two-year lease ended last July, there was another lesson for them.
Paint was peeling in some parts of the flat, and they were required to pay for a full repaint. While some of the defects were not their fault, said Edward, he acknowledged that the contract stated that tenants were responsible for repairs.
The episode highlighted how landlords and tenants may interpret certain clauses differently. “Lesson learnt,” he said. “If we were ever to rent again, … (we’ll know) what to look for in the contract.”
CAS covered the repainting cost.
There are about 20 licensed residential homes for children and youth, and two Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF)-operated youth homes. For youth not in Thrive21+, support continues under the MSF’s Enhanced Aftercare Support scheme.
The programme supports youth aged 17 to 21 who are transitioning from foster care or children’s homes to independent living when reintegration into their families is not possible.
Caseworkers are assigned to youth pursuing full-time studies, undergoing training or internships or serving National Service, until they complete higher education and secure full-time employment. Financial assistance for living and housing expenses is provided based on individual needs.
The caseworkers will provide mentorship and guidance on education, career pathways, financial management and housing options. Youth who are employed full-time at the point of discharge will receive case management support for up to a year.
Some homes besides Melrose Home also have programmes to support care leavers in their transition to independent living, in areas such as finding housing and jobs. These include the Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home and the Singapore Boys’ Hostel.
Collapse Expand
Beyond the financial aspect, there were emotional struggles that came with the switch from dorm life to independent living.
In the first two months, two of the youths returned to Melrose Home almost every evening, staying until 10pm to talk to staff and spend time in a familiar place. The quiet of the flat, they said, felt strange.
“Because when they were in Melrose Home, it was always noisy,” Soh observed. “There were always people they could talk to.”
Edward called the first few months the loneliest, with stretches of unstructured time to fill. When he did not know what to do, his “easiest and quickest escape” was gaming.
Gaming was Edward’s way of killing time.
The absence of family also weighed on him at times. His mother lives overseas, and they are not in contact; his father’s whereabouts remain unknown. He has a grandmother in Singapore, whom he met only once when she was hospitalised.
While he felt he had to grow up faster than many of his peers, he did not resent it.
“There’s no wrong in learning ‘adulting’ earlier,” he said, calling it “a good thing” because it meant making mistakes and learning from them, with Thrive21+ fostering a “safe environment” to do so.
To help the youths adjust, staff worked with them to find their rhythm in their new place, checked in on them regularly and encouraged hobbies so the hours would feel less overwhelming.
Lim and Soh checking in on Edward.
Assistant senior caseworker Lim Yan Xiu, 30, joked that she had become a “professional nagger”, reminding them about chores, time management and finances — sometimes cleaning alongside them.
Knowing when to intervene and when to step back, so they could learn from their mistakes without the consequences spiralling, was the challenge, she said.
After graduating from Thrive21+, the youths successfully appealed to the HDB to let them live in pairs in public rental flats under the JSS. These are subsidised flats for Singaporeans who are single and have no other housing options.
Although the four youths did not meet certain requirements such as the age criterion, the HDB assisted them as they had no family to rely on and limited financial means to secure other housing options after leaving Melrose Home.
Edward having some downtime in his one-room HDB rental flat.
Edward, who has since signed on with the Singapore Armed Forces, now pays S$58.30 a month in rent plus service and conservancy charges. He rates his confidence in managing rent as an eight, up from “zero” when he joined Thrive21+.
The changes CAS staff have seen go beyond finances. The youths are more confident about making decisions and managing routines, Soh observed. They are also “meaningfully engaged” in school or work and community activities.
Edward is pursuing hobbies he had not done for a long time, such as running, drawing and painting. “I do feel very happy,” he said.
What Soh hopes most is the youths believe “they deserve a good life”. She was happy to see that when they left the programme, they already had “the ambition to always want to live better and do better for themselves”.
Edward has space for some artwork. (Photo: CNA/Liew Zhi Xin)
An ink drawing by Edward. (Photo: CNA/Liew Zhi Xin)
Thrive21+ now has a second batch of participants. Two girls have moved into a rented flat, although one is temporarily back at Melrose Home owing to emotional difficulties. Its staff are reassessing her readiness to make the transition by mid-year.
Two other girls at the home are building their financial and self-management skills before staff review their next steps.
The support the programme provides is something Edward looks back on with gratitude, for example when he fell back on the staff for help with his rent payments.
“If this entire programme didn’t exist, then I wouldn’t be able to grow into the person I am today,” he said.
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“I’ve won in life already,” he thought as he moved into a flat — at age 19 — with three others he had grown up with at Melrose Home.
The residential care facility, run by the Children’s Aid Society (CAS), is for children and youth aged seven to 21 with adverse family circumstances, such as abuse and neglect.
And after nearly a decade of dormitories and fixed routines, Edward had his own bedroom and could arrange things however he liked. He could choose what to cook, when to head out and stay up as late as he wanted.
CNA Games
Show More Show Less
The exterior of Melrose Home at its temporary site on Boon Lay Avenue.
But responsibilities soon hit him harder than he had expected. He struggled to keep up the rent as expenses piled up, and he borrowed from a flatmate at times to make ends meet.
“It was a big reality (check),” he said. “We had no clue (about) the cost … of living outside.”
About 500 children and adolescents are in out-of-home residential care in Singapore. By the time they turn 21, about 30 individuals a year will age out of care without being able to reintegrate with their families.
Without support, the transition to independent living can be especially challenging for care leavers like Edward, with housing among their most pressing concerns.
Edward asked not to be identified.
A lack of stable housing can push some of them back to unsafe families or to couch-surf until these arrangements fall apart, while others remain in unhealthy relationships to avoid homelessness, said Soh Ying Si, 34, Melrose Home’s acting head.
When survival becomes the priority, education and long-term career plans often take a back seat, entrenching care leavers in poverty and instability, she added.
That is why CAS launched Thrive21+ in 2022, a three-year programme supporting youth aged 17 and above as they prepare for adulthood.
It includes a two-year housing component for those with little or no family support, whereby they share a rented flat with ongoing guidance from social workers.
Social workers Lim Yan Xiu (left), an assistant senior caseworker, and Soh Ying Si, Melrose Home’s acting head.
While CAS covers housing costs including rent and utilities, participants contribute an amount depending on the payment plan they propose.
From their search for housing to the cost of freedom, it was a steep learning curve for the inaugural batch of participants including Edward. What helped, though, was having staff there when they stumbled.
Now 22, Edward is working full-time and renting another flat, this time provided under the Joint Singles Scheme (JSS) as one of the exceptional cases where the Housing and Development Board (HDB) may exercise flexibility.
Money for rent is the first thing he sets aside each month, and he tracks his spending carefully. He has also made repayment to Melrose Home for the rent he missed previously.
Edward catching up with Soh and Lim in his one-room public rental flat.
For youths like him, the three years in Thrive21+ can be a turning point, CNA Insider finds out.
LANDLORDS SAW THEM AS DELINQUENTS
The year before the youths moved out, Melrose Home ran workshops on Singapore’s rental market and the hidden costs of independent living. But securing a flat proved more difficult than any workshop could prepare them for.
PropNex agent Patrick Yin, who briefed them on tenancy agreements and landlord expectations — and handled their search for a reduced fee — did anticipate a “high rejection rate”.
Landlords, who are concerned about payment reliability and upkeep, tend to prefer working adults and families, he said. Four young men aged 19 to 21 who were studying or serving National Service (NS) were seen as a risk, he added.
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With a budget of S$4,000 (US$3,100) a month for a unit in the west — closer to Melrose Home in Boon Lay — he contacted nearly 40 landlords. Only five of them agreed to viewings.
In one instance, a family secured a unit within an hour of viewing it alongside the youths, whose search stretched over a period of nearly three months.
Even a CAS letter promising financial support and regular staff checks did little to reassure landlords.
“To put it very bluntly, they’re scared that at that age, the (youths) will trash their place,” said Yin, adding that some landlords assume those from residential care are “delinquents”.
Melrose Home residents racing up the stairs at its Clementi Road site, which is being redeveloped. (File photo: Children’s Aid Society)
Such stereotypes are misplaced, said Soh, as many youths move into residential care owing to trauma and abuse, not because they are “bad kids”.
Housing, along with finances and isolation, was among the top concerns for care leavers in a study last year by CAS and Quantedge Foundation (Singapore).
Among respondents who were earning, including those who were receiving NS allowance, their median monthly income was S$800 and their average income was S$1,137. At that level, the private rental market is typically unaffordable for care leavers, the study noted.
That is why Thrive21+ helps to cover rental costs. And when one landlord finally agreed to rent a five-room flat to the programme’s participants, it felt like a breakthrough for them.
Edward and the three other youths found a place to rent in mid-2023.
Edward skimmed the tenancy agreement, trusting Melrose Home’s staff to handle the details. “We just wanted to get the house,” he said.
The move in July 2023 meant, however, stepping away from a life where “everything was taken care of for you”, he later reflected. “(Independence) was something I wanted. But at the same time, I think I wasn’t fully ready.”
LESSONS LEARNT THE HARD WAY
One of the first shocks for Edward came when he found that there was less than S$200 in his bank account.
After a few weeks of spending his NS allowance on outings with friends and entertainment, he suddenly worried about whether he could afford food until his next payday.
Embarrassed, he approached a flatmate to cover his share of rent. “After all that fun, then I was like, ‘Okay, was it worth it?’” Edward recalled.
Edward began to realise he “wasn’t spending wisely”.
Before moving in, he had proposed contributing S$65 a month towards rent, with a gradual increase to S$1,000 as his income and savings grew. But his payment plan fell through twice, and he had to revise his proposal each time.
He was also disqualified from a Thrive21+ savings programme after spending a S$100 monthly contribution from Melrose Home that was intended for him to set aside.
Looking back, he acknowledged that he had been “irresponsible” as he struggled to accept that independence meant taking charge of every aspect of his life. “Basically, if I didn’t grow up, … then I’d be cooked,” he said.
These missteps are unsurprising as impulsive spending is common among youth in residential care, according to Soh.
Soh providing CNA Insider with access to Melrose Home.
Deciding how to spend their money can feel like one of the few choices that is truly theirs after growing up with little control over their lives.
“Of course, it’s not easy when we see them make bad decisions,” Soh said, adding that sometimes these lessons must be learnt “the hard way”.
She stressed, however, that expecting 19- to 21-year-olds without family backing to shoulder the full expense of open market rents is “not realistic” — and that Thrive21+ is meant to give them support and space to practise independent living.
When the participants’ two-year lease ended last July, there was another lesson for them.
Paint was peeling in some parts of the flat, and they were required to pay for a full repaint. While some of the defects were not their fault, said Edward, he acknowledged that the contract stated that tenants were responsible for repairs.
The episode highlighted how landlords and tenants may interpret certain clauses differently. “Lesson learnt,” he said. “If we were ever to rent again, … (we’ll know) what to look for in the contract.”
CAS covered the repainting cost.
Support for other care leavers, beyond Thrive21+
There are about 20 licensed residential homes for children and youth, and two Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF)-operated youth homes. For youth not in Thrive21+, support continues under the MSF’s Enhanced Aftercare Support scheme.
The programme supports youth aged 17 to 21 who are transitioning from foster care or children’s homes to independent living when reintegration into their families is not possible.
Caseworkers are assigned to youth pursuing full-time studies, undergoing training or internships or serving National Service, until they complete higher education and secure full-time employment. Financial assistance for living and housing expenses is provided based on individual needs.
The caseworkers will provide mentorship and guidance on education, career pathways, financial management and housing options. Youth who are employed full-time at the point of discharge will receive case management support for up to a year.
Some homes besides Melrose Home also have programmes to support care leavers in their transition to independent living, in areas such as finding housing and jobs. These include the Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home and the Singapore Boys’ Hostel.
Collapse Expand
A STRANGE QUIET, AN ADJUSTMENT NEEDED
Beyond the financial aspect, there were emotional struggles that came with the switch from dorm life to independent living.
In the first two months, two of the youths returned to Melrose Home almost every evening, staying until 10pm to talk to staff and spend time in a familiar place. The quiet of the flat, they said, felt strange.
“Because when they were in Melrose Home, it was always noisy,” Soh observed. “There were always people they could talk to.”
Edward called the first few months the loneliest, with stretches of unstructured time to fill. When he did not know what to do, his “easiest and quickest escape” was gaming.
Gaming was Edward’s way of killing time.
The absence of family also weighed on him at times. His mother lives overseas, and they are not in contact; his father’s whereabouts remain unknown. He has a grandmother in Singapore, whom he met only once when she was hospitalised.
While he felt he had to grow up faster than many of his peers, he did not resent it.
“There’s no wrong in learning ‘adulting’ earlier,” he said, calling it “a good thing” because it meant making mistakes and learning from them, with Thrive21+ fostering a “safe environment” to do so.
To help the youths adjust, staff worked with them to find their rhythm in their new place, checked in on them regularly and encouraged hobbies so the hours would feel less overwhelming.
Lim and Soh checking in on Edward.
Assistant senior caseworker Lim Yan Xiu, 30, joked that she had become a “professional nagger”, reminding them about chores, time management and finances — sometimes cleaning alongside them.
Knowing when to intervene and when to step back, so they could learn from their mistakes without the consequences spiralling, was the challenge, she said.
FROM SURVIVING TO THRIVING
After graduating from Thrive21+, the youths successfully appealed to the HDB to let them live in pairs in public rental flats under the JSS. These are subsidised flats for Singaporeans who are single and have no other housing options.
Although the four youths did not meet certain requirements such as the age criterion, the HDB assisted them as they had no family to rely on and limited financial means to secure other housing options after leaving Melrose Home.
Edward having some downtime in his one-room HDB rental flat.
Edward, who has since signed on with the Singapore Armed Forces, now pays S$58.30 a month in rent plus service and conservancy charges. He rates his confidence in managing rent as an eight, up from “zero” when he joined Thrive21+.
The changes CAS staff have seen go beyond finances. The youths are more confident about making decisions and managing routines, Soh observed. They are also “meaningfully engaged” in school or work and community activities.
Edward is pursuing hobbies he had not done for a long time, such as running, drawing and painting. “I do feel very happy,” he said.
What Soh hopes most is the youths believe “they deserve a good life”. She was happy to see that when they left the programme, they already had “the ambition to always want to live better and do better for themselves”.
Edward has space for some artwork. (Photo: CNA/Liew Zhi Xin)
An ink drawing by Edward. (Photo: CNA/Liew Zhi Xin)
Thrive21+ now has a second batch of participants. Two girls have moved into a rented flat, although one is temporarily back at Melrose Home owing to emotional difficulties. Its staff are reassessing her readiness to make the transition by mid-year.
Two other girls at the home are building their financial and self-management skills before staff review their next steps.
The support the programme provides is something Edward looks back on with gratitude, for example when he fell back on the staff for help with his rent payments.
“If this entire programme didn’t exist, then I wouldn’t be able to grow into the person I am today,” he said.
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