Taken from The Straits Times Online

May 10, 2008

CARE AND PROTECTION ORDERS
Child Care Court to ease trauma for abused and neglected kids
By Selina Lum

THE number of abused and neglected children brought to the courts for Care and Protection Orders (CPO) has been rising steadily over the past decade.

The number stood at 114 last year, compared to just 18 in 1996.

In CPO cases, the courts can order that the child be left at home with close supervision by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), or a relative may be appointed to care for the child. If the situation warrants it, the child may be placed in foster care or a home.
In one-third of the 114 cases last year, the abusers were the children's mothers, with fathers accounting for about one-fifth of the cases. One in four was abused by both parents.

Many of these parents were not earning any income or had various health, psychiatric, drug abuse and family problems. About a quarter had criminal records.

Now, to allow the courts to deal in depth with such cases, a specialised Child Care Court will be set up to hear CPO cases. Hearings will be held every Friday.

The court will be assisted by an in-house psychologist and social workers and will work closely with MCYS.

The process will be made more child-friendly and informal, and the timetable for cases will be driven by what is right for each child.

The Child Care Court will also hear Beyond Parental Control cases.

These two types of cases will be segregated and managed differently from criminal offences committed by juvenile offenders.

Dr Joseph Ozawa, senior deputy director of the Family and Juvenile Justice Centre, said the thinking behind the initiative is to draw as much of a line as possible between abused children and juvenile delinquents.

Some children may feel intimidated by the court's atmosphere or feel they are in court because they have done something wrong. 'One of the key things we are trying to do is to tell them that they are in a different court,' said Dr Ozawa.

He cited his experience in Australia: In a court building, to distinguish between the two types of children, one lift meant for wrongdoers was labelled 'crime', while the other for victims of abuse was labelled 'care'.

Counsellor Gracia Goh of Sunbeam Place, which is run by the Singapore Children's Society, welcomed the move. She said that for some children, the process of going to court can be intimidating and 'very trying'.

Ms Goh said it was not surprising that one-third of the abusers were mothers. 'It's stereotypical to think that abusers are fathers. Mothers are the ones who do the daily caregiving. They are the ones who face the strain.'

The problem is not confined to lower-income or single-parent families, she said. There are cases where the child's parents hold master's degrees or are well-respected in their fields.

But because their children do not meet their expectations, these parents 'react in extreme ways' by confining the kids, using physical violence or inflicting emotional abuse.