ABOUT NCSS |
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Purpose |
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| To ensure that every person has
the opportunity to live a life of dignity to his or her fullest
potential within society. |
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Mission |
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| To provide leadership and direction
in social services, to enhance the capabilities of social service
organisations, and to promote strategic partnerships for social
services. |
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Setting the Pace |
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| NCSS leads and coordinates the
social service sector in Singapore. Member voluntary welfare
organisations (VWOs) are our valued partners. Together, we identify
service gaps, pioneer new programmes and set best practice guidelines.
The aim is to continually enhance the quality of social services
for the disadvantaged. |
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Facilitating and Enabling |
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| NCSS develops human resources
in the sector. A trained, dedicated and professional workforce
will take social services in Singapore into the next lap. NCSS
also works closely with VWOs for better management and delivery
of social service programmes. The objective is to stretch the
charity dollar so that more people can benefit from the quality
services provided. |
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Fund-raising |
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| The Community
Chest, the NCSS fund-raising arm, helps the disadvantaged
and distressed realise their hopes and dreams. Over $40 million
needs to be raised each year. The money raised is given out
entirely to funded VWOs to provide the social service programmes
needed. The programmes will benefit more than 350,000 service
users, which include direct service users, indirect service
users such as caregivers and service users reached by public
education efforts. |
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Social Service Training |
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| The Social
Service Training Institute (SSTI), the NCSS Academy, aims
to enhance the professionalism of the social services in Singapore
by providing training opportunities for the continual development
of both professionals and volunteers in the sector. |
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Public Education |
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Promoting and developing greater
community involvement through strategic partnerships is an
integral part of the NCSS vision. Public Education is a key
tool to enhancing community involvement.
Public Education for children aged 4 and 12 comes in the
form of the Sharity Programme. Sharity Elephant, the popular
mascot of the Sharity Programme, educates our young ones about
the importance of caring and sharing.
There are also various campaigns to improve the social awareness
of youths and members of the public. This includes campaigns
such as the Youths Embrace Social Services programme to engage
youth interest in social service, and the Disability Awareness
Public Education campaign to promote awareness of the abilities
and employability of persons with disabilities.
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NCSS Vision for the 21st Century |
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| The NCSS Vision
of Social Services in the 21st Century was developed in
1999. Guided by anticipated scenarios, trends and current strategic
considerations, the vision is used by NCSS to plan, develop
and reposition social services for the 21st century in the following
areas: |
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- Social service areas
- Volunteerism
- Funding and accountability
- Governance and management
- Strategic partnerships
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Vision 2008: Towards 50 Years of Structured Social Services |
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| The year 2008 will mark 50 years of structured
social services in Singapore. In 2004, NCSS conducted the Vision
2008 exercise, with reference to the NCSS Vision for the 21st
Century, to review and further refine strategic directions for
the social service sector in the years leading up to 2008 and
beyond. The product of this exercise is a strategic document
titled Vision
2008: Towards 50 Years of Structured Social Services, prepared
by NCSS with inputs from voluntary welfare organisations and
relevant ministries. The strategic thrusts of the Vision 2008
include: |
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- New services to meet emerging needs
- Higher service standards
- Optimisation of social service delivery
- Technology for human services
- Exemplary levels of accountability and transparency
- Greater meaning and significance to social service volunteering
and giving
- Affirmation of the dignity of social service recipients
- Organisational excellence for NCSS
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NCSS Strategic Directions |
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- Undertake social service planning and development
- Enhance the capabilities of VWOs
- Promote community partnerships
- Enhance NCSS corporate communications and development
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