by MP for Aljunied GRC, Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap
Chairman Sir,
1. It is good that the Ministry is finally addressing the problem of social worker caseload. I sincerely support the Acting Minister in seeking to reduce social worker caseload by 20%. We need to empower social workers and other helping professionals such as counsellors, who are actually on the ground forging the inclusive society. If we overload them with work without adequate support, we cannot expect them to deliver the quality of service that our vulnerable need in order to stand back on their feet. The Ministry has announced that it aims to increase funding for VWOs to reduce the average number of cases per social worker from 50 to 40 from October 2012 onwards. I would like to make three points on this matter.
2. Firstly, in the answer to my parliamentary question a few weeks back, the Acting Minister reports that the average active monthly cases in Family Service Centre social worker has dropped from 49 in 2007 to 43 in 2011. This is good news, as the FSC is our frontline unit helping the vulnerable. However, this means that we need to aim higher in reducing social worker caseload by 20%. There is also no clear timeframe set by the Ministry for the target. Would the Acting Minister consider setting a target of 35 average active monthly cases for FSC social workers, 20% lower than 43, to be achieved by 2015?
3. Secondly, in the longer term, we need to reduce caseloads further to match international best practices. In Hong Kong, 30 cases, due to rising caseloads in the past decade, are considered excessive. The Child Welfare League of America, which deals with similar welfare issues as the FSC, recommends 17 active ongoing cases per social worker per social worker. Would the Acting Minister consider setting a target of 1:25 for FSC social worker caseload to be achieved by 2020?
4. In addition, studies should be done to ascertain a “caseload matrix” to determine the optimum caseload for each social welfare sector. Each sector presents different kinds of demands on social workers. Medical social workers would have different optimum caseloads compared to FSC social workers or CDC ComCare officers. We could learn from the US National Association of Social Workers who recently proposed such a caseload matrix. Perhaps, the NUS Social Work Department can be commissioned to do such a study?
5. Thirdly, we need to also consider workload, as distinguished from caseload. Workload is the amount of time required to perform specific tasks. When asked recently whether the 20% reduction in caseload is sufficient, Care Corner Singapore’s FSC chief operating officer Daniel Chien said: “It all depends on the intensity of the cases we handle.” Other than casework, social workers have to do many other tasks such as outreach activities, attend to emergencies, appear in court, work with community groups, write up administrative reports, and so on. Would the Acting Minister consider the measurement and tracking of workload in addition to caseload with a view of reducing it to an optimal level, and also with a view to reducing the administrative workload that is taking social workers away from casework? Thank you.