1. Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State (MOS), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of National Development, led a delegation of officers from MHA, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) and Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG), to the 24th annual International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) Conference, held in Orlando, Florida from 23 October to 28 October 2022.
2. The annual ICPA conference is attended by over 400 professionals and experts from all over the world, representing government and state corrections agencies, as well as academic and social work institutions. The theme of this year’s conference was “Excelling Beyond the ‘Old Normal: Corrections after the Global Pandemic”.
3. MOS Faishal delivered a presentation at the conference on 27 October 2022, on Singapore’s rehabilitation system.
4. During his presentation, MOS Faishal shared with the international audience how Singapore rehabilitates offenders and reintegrates ex-offenders back into society. He explained SPS’s programmes, which provide continuous and coordinated support to address the risks and needs of offenders from during their custodial sentence to when they are released into the community. MOS Faishal also touched on the support provided by YRSG in developing offenders’ economic capital through skills training and work opportunities.
5. MOS Faishal also highlighted the efforts by SPS and YRSG to partner and collaborate with community partners to develop and deliver both secular and culturally-nuanced programmes, to prevent offending and re-offending.
6. In closing, MOS Faishal said the long-term success of ex-offenders is the focus of MHA, SPS and YRSG going forward, and the Government will work towards reducing the longer-term five-year recidivism rate. While the two-year recidivism rate remains low at around 20 per cent, the five-year is higher at around 40 per cent. Reducing the five-year recidivism rate requires a sustainable and more coordinated ecosystem of support, and we will need to build a strong and sustainable ecosystem in the community – employers, social service agencies, volunteers and more – to help ex-offenders desist and become contributing citizens
