HOPE
With effect from 1 Jan 04, low income families and their children will be provided with more help to break out of the poverty cycle through the Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) scheme.
HOPE will replace the existing Small Families Improvement Scheme (SFIS) currently administered by the Community Development Councils. Under HOPE, these benefits will be enhanced and made more comprehensive in order to address the needs of low income families.
HOPE applicants should fulfill the following criteria:
| (1) | Married couples with 1 or 2 children.
| | (2) | Either the husband or wife must be a Singapore citizen, and the spouse must either be a citizen or a permanent resident of Singapore.
| | (3) | Monthly household* income of $1500 or below.
| | (4) | Age of the wife is 35** years or below.
| | (5) | Husband is employed.
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This scheme will also be extended to widows.
* For families where at least one spouse has post-secondary education, neither spouse earns more than $1,000 per month each
** For families where at least one spouse has post-secondary qualification, the wife must be aged 30 - 35 years old
Each HOPE family will receive the following benefits:-
| (a) | Educational bursaries for the children from pre-school up to university-level education. This is on top of what is already provided for under Edusave. The annual bursaries for the various educational levels are as follows:- - Preschool - $250 per annum
- Primary - $400/- per annum
- Secondary - $800 per annum
- Junior college/ polytechnic/ITE $1,200 per annum
- University - $2000/- per annum
- Special education - $600 per annum
| | (b) | A housing grant of $50,000 to help the family pay for the home mortgage. The grant will be disbursed in annual installments into the mother's CPF account.
| | (c) | A training grant of up to $10,000 per family to enable the parents to attend skills training. This grant will be divided equally between the parents in order to encourage the mother to acquire new skills and enhance her employability.
| | (d) | A one-off cash grant of $1000 to help the family offset utilities bills upon joining the scheme. | | (e) | Mentoring support from a social service agency to guide the family and help them resolve any problems.
| | (f) | Cash grant of $6000-$9000 to help the couples with family life education, family planning and parenting skills.
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HOPE families are expected to play their part and make full use of the resources provided to improve and uplift themselves. They must keep their family small, to no more than 2 children, so that the parents can concentrate their limited resources on their children and give them a head start. Appropriate family education programmes will be available to help the couples become better spouses and parents.
Existing beneficiaries under the SFIS will enjoy the revised benefits on education bursaries, training grant and mentoring services
Public Assistance (PA) Scheme
Public Assistance (PA) Scheme provides a monthly grant to financially distressed Singaporeans who by reason of age, illness, disability or unfavourable family circumstances, are unable to work and have no means of subsistence as well as no one to depend upon.
Recipients also receive supportive assistance such as free medical benefits at government/restructured hospitals and government outpatient clinics. School-going children are referred to the Ministry of Education for supportive assistance. Elderly above 60 years old are matched with volunteers from the Lions Befrienders for assistance in their daily needs.
Special Grant (SG)
This scheme is meant for Permanent Residents of Singapore who are in need of financial assistance. The eligibility criteria is similar to that of the Public Assistance Scheme.
