Singapore Strengthens Reintegration Network

A Whole-of-Society Approach

Singapore is expanding its community-based approach to rehabilitation by bringing government agencies, social service organisations and community groups together to support inmates, ex-offenders and their families.

At the CARE Network Summit 2026, held on 12 August, the Singapore Prison Service and the Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders (CARE) Network highlighted the importance of coordinated support throughout the rehabilitation and reintegration process.

13 New Measures

A key development at the summit was the launch of 13 recommendations by the National Committee on Preventing Offending and Re-offending (NCPR).

The measures focus on preventing youth offending, reducing gang affiliation among young people, strengthening support for elderly inmates and ex-offenders, and helping families affected by incarceration.

The Role of the Community

The CARE Network now brings together government organisations, social service agencies and more than 170 community partners. Its purpose is to coordinate aftercare and create a smoother transition from prison to community life.

This reflects an important shift in rehabilitation policy. Reintegration is no longer treated as the responsibility of prisons alone. Families, employers, volunteers, social workers and community organisations are increasingly considered part of the rehabilitation process.

Desistance Beyond Prison

The 2026 summit also gave former offenders who have successfully moved away from crime — known as desistors — a more prominent role.

Two desistors shared their experiences and discussed how they now support others going through rehabilitation. This reflects the principles of desistance theory, which views long-term change as a process supported by identity, relationships and social connections.

Measuring Long-Term Change

Singapore also links its rehabilitation strategy to recidivism outcomes. According to the Singapore Prison Service, the two-year recidivism rate declined from 40.1% for the 1998 release cohort to 21.9% for the 2023 release cohort. SPS describes this progress as a whole-of-society effort involving rehabilitation partners and the wider community.

The Singapore model therefore presents rehabilitation as more than an institutional intervention. It increasingly treats successful reintegration as a shared responsibility between the state, communities, families and individuals themselves.