ICPA2024 PID134 Ianthe Leong and Josephine Overee and Perummalammal Valimuthu

Children: The Unintended Victims of Parental Incarceration: Supporting Families through Collaborative Interventions by Singapore's Child Protective Service

Authors

Ianthe Leong

Senior Manager, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Rehabilitaion and Protection Group, Child Protective Service

Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology from Nanyang Technological University in 2013, Ianthe Leong worked with youth offenders in the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Singapore Boys’ Home and Singapore Girls’ Home (Youth Residential Service). She conducted individual, group and family work and coordinated aftercare support to target the youths’ risk factors, increase their pro-social attitudes and behaviours, and reduce their recidivism rates in the community.
In 2017, Ianthe attained her Graduate Diploma in Social Work from Singapore University of Social Sciences and joined the Ministry’s Child Protective Service (CPS) Intervention Unit. There, she collaborated closely with families and systems to ensure necessary interventions for the safety of abused children and provided investigations and crisis management for reports of abuse and violence. She has led a team of child protection officers for the past five years and provided training for child protection workers in CPS and community agencies on topics such as Mental Resilience and Leading Self, Building Relationships with clients and stakeholders, and Working with Children and Young People. She has worked closely with the Youth Residential Service and Singapore Prison Service as the CPS liaison. Ianthe is also Registered Social Worker with the Social Work Accreditation and Advisory Board. She is knowledgeable and passionate in leading families and individuals through difficult circumstances and to reach their best functioning in life.

Josephine Overee

Assistant Director, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Rehabilitiion and Protection Group, Child Protective Service

Graduated with a Master in Counselling from Monash University, Australia, Josephine is the Assistant Director of the Child Protective Service for the Rehabilitation and Protection Group, Ministry of Social and Family Development. She is currently seconded from Singapore Prison Service to the Child Protective Service since October 2023. She has 20 years of correctional experience, mainly involved in the work of female and youth offenders. She was the Assistant Director of the Correctional Rehabilitation Service Branch that oversee the management of women offenders at the Singapore Prison Service for 4 years and a former Officer-in-Charge of a correctional unit, managing the female drug offenders in Cluster A, Institution A4. Josephine is also one of the authors of the book on “Correctional Rehabilitation and Psychological Interventions in Singapore, Practitioners’ Experiences in Singapore Prison Service”, where she co-wrote a chapter on working with women offenders.

Perummalammal Valimuthu

Senior Assistant Director, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Rehabilitiion and Protection Group, Child Protective Service

Graduated with a Master's in Guidance and Counselling from James Cook University, Perummalammal serves as the Senior Assistant Director of Child Protective Services within the Rehabilitation and Protection Group, Ministry of Social and Family Development. She also has a Postgraduate Certificate in Systemic Thinking and Approaches, focusing on their application in the context of social work and clinical practice.
Perummalammal has 15 years of experience working with the youth in the residence homes, namely Singapore Boys Home and Singapore Girls Home. She was also seconded to the Singapore Prison Service, where she worked as a Correctional Rehabilitation Specialist for two years, before returning to the Singapore Boys Home in a more advanced managerial role.
Years of transformative efforts culminated in her current leadership role within Child Protective Services, guiding a dedicated team as Senior Assistant Director.

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