When senior social worker Kalajayanthi Jayagomar, 38, and her colleague from social service agency Allkin Singapore visited a family’s home in early August, they were following up on an incident. A parent had used harsh physical punishment on their child aged under six.

But what they found was a household grappling with much more.

The parents were overwhelmed with caregiving, faced significant emotional and financial stress, and quarrelled often, Kalajayanthi recalls. There was also a history of spousal violence.

One of them told her that struggling with their child’s behaviour – who Kalajayanthi observed to be restless – had led to the harsh physical punishment, she says.

Their visit had been triggered by an alert from a new Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) unit: Sensemaking Alerts for Frontline Engagement and Response (SAFER), which flags information that may require a closer look at a family to assess if they need support. (See box below).

In this case, SAFER drew on data from a police report. The family told Kalajayanthi that the police had conducted checks, she says.

She shared support options with them, including for the child’s behavioural needs.

The parents agreed to a safety plan to prevent repeated family violence, she adds. They would avoid harsh physical punishment on the child, seek counselling, and ensure the child is not exposed to spousal or family conflicts.