Data on Children under Non-Parental Care Due to Parent Incapacity

Ms Elysa Chen asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) how many children are under non-parental care due to their parents being unable or unwilling to care for them, including cases where parents are incarcerated for a long duration or otherwise incapable of providing care; and (b) of these cases, how many children are being cared for by grandparents or other relatives.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: When parents are unable or unwilling to care for their children as a result of protection concerns, incarceration or other circumstances that render them incapable of providing safe care, the children are placed temporarily in out-of-home care. This may include family-based care, such as foster or kinship care, or residential care, until it is assessed to be safe for them to return to their families. As of 2024, there were a total of 1,454 children in out-of-home care, of whom 386 children were placed in kinship care.