On Clarity, Competence, and Commitment. My 2-minute parliamentary speech on ComLink!

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ComLink is a worthy MSF-driven programme designed to support families with children living in public rental housing. The concept and launch of ComLink is definitely a more superior model to provide support in a co-ordinated manner.

I chair the ComLink alliances in 2 ComLink towns – Jalan Besar and Ang Mo Kio.

In each ComLink town, MSF’s SSO General Manager plays the role of a Social Services Integrator – assessing the needs of each family, co-ordinating with the alliance of partners such as schools, job centres, HDB, police, grassroots and People’s Association.

There are several Critical Success Factors needed for ComLink to be effective. Let me name 3:

CLARITY. Many like-minded parties are still unclear about how all the many helping hands for families in public rental housing are connected. Sir, there needs to be clarity and mapping of how initiatives like ComLink, M3, Project Dian, UpLift, self-help groups like CDAC, SINDA, Mendaki, CDCs, charities and grassroots, volunteers .

COMPETENCE. Each family assessed to be in need will require a competent Social Service Integrator who is a trained case manager, able to do the heavy lifting to identify root issues and solutions. These Integrators have to be able to pull in other agency reps in the ComLink Workgroup Alliance for meetings and actions. I have the privilege of working with SSO GMs and FSC social workers who play this role well; but they are not easily available. We need to grow more of them.

Lastly, COMMITMENT. Sir, integrating services and case management are additional and higher-order duties that need to be resourced.

For ComLink to succeed, there must be a COMMITMENT TO RESOURCE not only tangible needs like headcounts, skills training programmes and for different agency partners to commit, beyond lip service, to get that needed flexible job, financial assistance, pre-school placement, early intervention for the families who need them to move along; and a willingness to share information, track actions and outcomes.

Are all alliance partners equally committed or is ComLink seen as just a MSF-driven project?

In conclusion, for ComLink to be successful, there must be clarity, competence and commitment. I urge the Ministry to ensure these CSFs are in place.

Denise Phua, 3 March 2023

(PS : MPs are given 18 minutes in total for their speeches in different Ministries’ Committee of Supply sessions. Here’s the 2 minutes I allocated to this topic )