SPS YRSG Corporate Advance 2024

SPS-YRSG CORPORATE ADVANCE 2024

FORWARD CORRECTIONS: BEYOND SECOND CHANCES

The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) and Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG) held our Corporate Advance today at the Singapore EXPO. Themed “Forward Corrections: Beyond Second Chances”, this year’s workplan seminar was graced by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Law, and attended by about 600 SPS and YRSG staff and partners. At the event, SPS and YRSG shared our plans for the next bound of transformation in corrections.

From Corrections 2025 to Corrections 2030

In 2017, SPS launched Corrections 2025. Building on this foundation, SPS and YRSG will embark on Corrections 2030 this year. Corrections 2030 is anchored on the following five strategies:

a.      S.M.A.R.T. prisons. SPS will provide a Safe and secure place of incarceration, in which we provide Multidisciplinary interventions, delivered in an Agile manner, to achieve the best possible Rehabilitation outcomes for inmates, including by leveraging Technology and data.

b.      Uplifting and strengthening inmates’ families. SPS and YRSG will help uplift and strengthen the families of inmates. SPS will continue to involve the families in the rehabilitation of the inmates. Uplifting and strengthening inmates’ families help break the cycle of re-offending and inter-generational offending.

c.      Maximising the employability and career progression of inmates and ex-offenders.  YRSG will do this through upskilling. YRSG will also build a strong coalition of employers and other partners to promote hiring and tackle stigmatisation of ex-offenders.

d.      Mobilising the community. SPS will build up the corrections-related capabilities of volunteers and community partners, including those who work with us to uplift the families of inmates. We will also widen our partnerships by involving even more community groups in our rehabilitation efforts, to create a sustainable ecosystem of support for ex-offenders.

e.      Developing our Captains of Lives. SPS will continue to enable the growth and development of our Captains of Lives, so that they can be even more effective in an evolving and more complex correctional landscape.

Championing Second Chances for Ex-Offenders: Yellow Ribbon Project 20th Anniversary [1]

Marking 20 years of the Yellow Ribbon Project (YRP) in championing second chances for ex-offenders, Minister Shanmugam launched the YRP 20th Anniversary celebrations with a new campaign tagline, “Don’t just wear a Yellow Ribbon. Be one.” The campaign is a shift towards stronger community advocacy and active participation in the second chances movement. As part of the campaign, inmates and ex-offenders will showcase their talents to the community through an exciting series of events. These include “Moving HeARTs in the city” – an art exhibition in a roving truck showcasing the talents of inmates and ex-offenders in August 2024, the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run on 1 September 2024, and the “Celebrating 20 Years of Second Chances” concert on 17 October 2024.

To commemorate the YRP journey over the last two decades, SPS and YRSG will produce a web publication themed, “Yellow Ribbon: Our Journey of Second Chances”. The publication will comprise three parts:

• Part I: “Unlocking the Second Prison” chronicles the milestones and impact of YRP over the years (released at the event).

• Part II: “Celebrating Second Chances” features the support which the community has given for the reintegration of ex-offenders (to be released later this year).

• Part III: “We Are Each Other’s Second Chances” showcases the stories of inmates and ex-offenders, in particular their talents and contributions back to the community (to be released later this year).

Commissioner of Prisons, Ms Shie Yong Lee, said, “Safety and security continue to be the bedrock of our rehabilitation programmes in prison and of community corrections. SPS and YRSG will assist ex-offenders to desist from a life of crime and drugs, through evidence-informed programmes that start in our prisons and drug rehabilitation centres, and importantly, continue after they have returned to the community. To do so, we will leverage technology and community partnerships. As the social enablers in Corrections 2030, SPS and YRSG will uplift inmates’ employability and increase their social and community capital.  This will contribute towards a safer Singapore.”

[1] Started by the Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-offenders (CARE) Network in 2004, the Yellow Ribbon Project (YRP) is a movement that aims to raise awareness of the need to give second chances to ex-offenders, generate acceptance of ex-offenders and their families in the community, and inspire community action to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-offenders into society.