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Launched in 2017, the Social Service Sector Strategic Thrusts (4ST) is a five-year roadmap for the sector to ensure that it remains relevant and responsive to future challenges and changing needs of the population. It was co-developed by sector stakeholders with NCSS, and feedback and ideas were discussed amongst member organisations, service users, government, community leaders, business leaders and civic-minded individuals.
4ST aims to enable a person-centred and holistic approach towards advancing the Quality of Life for individuals.
“Every person empowered to live with dignity in a caring and inclusive society.” |
Key Thrust 1: Empowered Individuals, Their Families And Communities
To empower is to increase a person’s assets and capabilities so that one can participate in, negotiate with, influence and hold accountable institutions that affect his or her life. The client empowerment model has been increasingly adopted by the social and health care sectors in many countries as it leads to better outcomes, sustainable social change and reduced costs.
We believe that service users should have a voice in developing solutions. Ways to achieve this include increasing access to resources, providing them with knowledge to decide on services, and involving the users in the co-creation of solutions to meet their needs.
Thus, Thrust 1 emphasises the need to harness the strengths of service users, to take greater ownership of their issues. Players in the social service ecosystem will play supporting roles in enabling them.
Key Thrust 2: Effective Social Purpose Entities That Deliver Quality, Innovative And Sustainable Solutions
A social purpose entity is any organisation or groups of individuals set up “to change society for the better” and deliver services to improve the well-being of individuals and communities1. Social service agencies (SSAs) are the most common type of social purpose entity and have been the primary vehicles that deliver social services in Singapore. Others include social enterprises that are set up with a social mission but may be profit-driven.
Thrust 2 focuses on building effective social purpose entities that help to change society for the better and deliver services to improve the well-being of individuals and communities. We do this through:
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1Cheng, W., & Mohamed, S. (2015). Doing Good in Singapore; PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2016). Australia’s Social Purpose Market: Understanding Funding Flows and Exploring Implications.
Key Thrust 3: Caring, Collaborative, And Impactful Social Service Ecosystem
An ecosystem refers to the broader context in which an entity operates. It is made up of all the relevant players in that space and the environmental conditions that affect, or have the potential to influence, the entity’s impact on others2.
Thrust 3 focuses on adopting a holistic assessment of service user needs and having a systems-driven approach to meet those needs. The sector should work towards information transfer, mutual trust and a shared appreciation of the whole care system.
The partnership between the People, Public and Private sectors is also important in providing the necessary social and financial resources (e.g. donations, volunteerism, job opportunities) to promote social participation of vulnerable persons.
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2Bloom, P. N., & Dees, J. G. (2008). Cultivate Your Ecosystem.
