SINGAPORE: Despite the best efforts of the Child Protective Service (CPS) to ensure a child’s safety after they return from foster care to their biological family, it is “not possible to guarantee” that a parent will never harm their child again.
Some parents might “actively choose to conceal” signs of abuse when CPS officers or social workers visit them at home, senior principal social worker at the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) Yogeswari Munisamy told CNA on Wednesday (Oct 4).
The foster care system has come under the spotlight after a recent spate of child abuse cases came before the courts.
The most recent high-profile case involved a two-year-old victim known as Umaisyah, whose charred remains were found in a metal pot. Her father, a 35-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced last month to 21-and-a-half years in jail and 18 strokes of the cane for killing her.
