24th social service office to open next year

There will be 24 social service offices (SSOs) up and running across Singapore by the middle of next year, exceeding the initial target of 20.

The target was later revised to 23. Yesterday, Social and Family Development Minister Chan Chun Sing revealed that a 24th office would be set up in Sembawang.

"The current office at Woodlands straddles the work from Marsiling to Woodlands to Sembawang... (Setting up the Sembawang office) will help to spread the load," The Straits Times online quoted him as saying.

It will also help to cater to the needs of the area, as more families move into the Sembawang new town, he added.

Mr Chan was speaking to reporters at the official opening of the SSO at Queenstown, the 15th such office to be set up by the Government.

It is located in the Ministry of Education Heritage Centre, a five-minute walk from Commonwealth MRT station.

The SSOs, which are run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development, will work with voluntary welfare organisations and community partners in their areas to better coordinate the social services they offer.

These offices, together with more than 40 family service centres islandwide, will form a network within 2km of where 95 per cent of needy residents live or work.

Plans to set up the social service offices in HDB towns were first announced in the Budget last year.

This article was first published on Nov 12, 2014.
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