New task force to ensure financial security of disabled

Parents of children with physical, intellextual, developmental or pther disabilities have a common worry: What will happen to their kids once they are gone?

A new five-member task force has been set up to answer thia questions, and find ways to ensure the financial security of disabled people. Among its first actions will be to set up a one-stop umbrella body to assess the family's needs, advise the parents on financial and legal matters and point them to solutions such as basic health or life insurance.

This body, which will be operational in the 2nd half of this year, will also show them how to prepare a will and appoint a trustee. The task force, set u[ by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), is headed by Mrs Christine ong, managing director and country head of private bank UBS AG Singapore.

Mrs Ong also chairs UBS's community affairs commitee in Singapore, and has been actively involved in leading charitable initiatives in education and community regeneration in the region. The task force is the result of one of several recommendations made in October last year by a government-appointed commitee headed by Jalan Besar GRC MP denise Phua.

The panel studied ways to prevent the disabled from sinking into poverty. It found that parents of special-needs children are plagued by worries about their children's financial future. Few knew what to do about it and most had little financial awareness or planning. Among the committee's key proposals was the setting up of a national, non-profit special-needs trust fund.

It also suggested the following:

>>Encouraging parents with disabled children to take up basic financial protection;

>> Allow CPF accounts to be set up for the children which parents and others can contrubute to;

and

>> Review health schemes so the disabled get the same level of coverage as able-bodied people.

( The Straits Times Wednesday, January 31 2007 H3 )


I am all for this new Task Force because i believe it will help the needies in our society. This will help the whole society to improve as a whole and will aid in narrowing the gap between the extreme ends of the society. It will defintely bring about good effects on our society on a long term basis.


Satays&Ketupats