‘Living on my own was scary’: How children’s homes support young people with nowhere to go

During this time, the children’s home he came to found a place on land that they could rent for him; He rented a bed for $150 a month in a room he shared with five other people.

Ashley has a part-time job at a laboratory that tests air quality, taking home about $1,500 a month; This money goes to expenses such as food, transportation and school fees.

The house is currently subsidizing tuition fees for a part-time diploma in applied sciences at a polytechnic. He plans to apply for financial aid for school expenses.

The house also covers most of her accommodation rent, and she worries it will become even harder to find affordable housing after she officially leaves home at 21.

MSF said young people working full-time will be provided with social services for a year when they are discharged. They will not be able to benefit from financial aid.

In 2021, Melrose Home launched Thrive21(+) to help youth ages 17 and up cope with the challenges of moving. So far, 9 citizens have benefited.

The program consists of one year of preparation while young people are at home, teaching them the skills needed for self-confidence, from financial management to household management, and two years of ongoing assistance, including finding a job after they leave home.

Ms Soh Ying Si, a social worker from the home, said an apartment was rented from the Housing Board for the programme’s first group and they lived together to make it “less scary for them”. The lease will expire in June 2025.

Ms Soh added that the house covers rental fees for them and collects payments for smaller expenses such as utilities and Wi-Fi.

And if they can’t pay their share for a particular month, Ms Soh said they need to learn to speak up for themselves and explain why they can’t pay on time.

“They always had this fear and strange feeling of living in a place with no one to turn to,” he said. In the beginning, the young people returned to Melrose House almost every day to have dinner together.

The program aims to bridge the gap between care and independence, he said, adding that inadequate support could undermine the intervention that children’s homes have provided for years.

Another aftercare support initiative by Trybe, the social service agency that runs Singapore Boys’ Hostel, has been expanded in 2022 to include young people in other children’s homes, offering them follow-up assistance and guidance. The Growing Resilient Youth in Transition programme, launched in 2015, was initially only for boys in the hostel.

Youth who need help can enroll in this program on their own, or other homes can refer them at least three months before their discharge. A social worker was then assigned to follow them for 12 to 15 months, said Ms Helga Foo, a social worker from Trybe.

The social worker will befriend them, mentor them and connect them with community resources, she said.