Support Programmes
Social Support Programmes
The Syariah Court partners community agencies to provide social support programmes for couples who are contemplating or undergoing divorce, and their children. Our social support programmes aim to help couples resolve their differences with less acrimony and to protect the welfare of their dependent children.
Children-in-Between Programme
Children-in-Between (CiB) is a group programme comprising of separate workshops for parents and their children who are between 6 to 14 years old. This programme is free-of-charge, and. both parents and children are encouraged to attend their respective workshops.
CiB (Parents) will take place over 2 sessions while CiB (Children) will take place over 3 sessions. The following topics are covered in CiB:
| CiB for Parents | CiB for Children | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical Co-parenting Skills | Positive ways to cope with their parents' divorce | ||
| Ways to reduce parental conflict | Exploring feelings and fears, myths and truths | ||
| Understanding the needs of their children in a divorce situation | Skills to share their feelings |
You may contact an agency at MSF | Directories to sign up for the programme.
Counselling
FAM@FSCs and Divorce Support Specialist Agencies (DSSAs) offer free counselling for divorcing and divorced families. This service is different from the Syariah Court’s mandatory Marriage Counselling Programme. Counselling offers a safe and confidential space for you, your spouse and/or your children to work through issues with a professional. Where necessary, the Syariah Court may order you and your child to attend counselling during or after your divorce proceedings. You and your family may also attend counselling at any of the FAM@FSCs and DSSAs voluntarily.
You may contact an agency at MSF | Directories to sign up for the programme.
An online counselling service is also available to support those experiencing stress due to family-related issues, including marital issues and parent-child issues. This service is available through live chat, telephone or email, and can be accessed at http://www.go.gov.sg/onlinecounselling.
Supervised Exchange and Supervised Visitation Programme
If there are child access disputes between you and your spouse, the Syariah Court may, during your divorce proceedings, order for supervised sessions to facilitate access between you/your spouse (non-custodial parent) and your child.
The Supervised Exchange and Supervised Visitation programme (SESV) aims to help parents co-parent effectively and build secure parent-child relationships over time, without compromising children’s personal and emotional safety. It is an interim measure to facilitate families to work towards independent child access. SESV is for Court-ordered cases only. It is provided at no cost for the initial 3 orders but will be chargeable from the 4th order onwards.
The SESV sessions are facilitated by the following FAM@FSCs:
- FAM@FSC (Thye Hua Kwan CFH - Commonwealth)
- FAM@FSC (Care Corner - Eunos)
- FAM@FSC (Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre - Ang Mo Kio)
FAM@FSCs may conduct the SESV sessions(s) through online platforms in situations where public safety measures are required, or when there are special circumstances faced by either parent or child.
Custody Evaluation Report
If you have a child below 21 years old, you are encouraged to discuss amicably with your spouse on custody and access matters. If there are serious disputes or allegations impacting the orders which may be made on custody, care and control, and access of the child/children, the Syariah Court may order a Custody Evaluation Report (“CER”) to be prepared by an appointed psychologist during your court proceedings. The psychologist will interview you, your spouse, your child and any other significant adults in your child’s life. The report submitted to the Syariah Court is confidential. There are no fees required for the CER. Referral for the Custody Evaluation Report is strictly by court orders only.
Parenting PACT
If you have a child below 21 years old, you are required to attend a one-time Parenting PACT consultation session after your divorce is finalised. This is a two-hour session conducted by family counsellors from PPIS As-Salaam Family Support Centre. The Syariah Court will issue the certificate of divorce after you have attended the Parenting PACT session. This programme is free. The programme aims to help divorced parents:
- Understand the impact of divorce on their children
- Learn co-parenting skills
- Practise self-care; and
- Gain awareness of the community support resources available.