One child offended, but the next doesn’t have to

The pilot phase of Pivot Families – short for Positive Interventions that Value Opportunities and build Thriving Families – started in April. It is expected to benefit about 25 families and about 50 siblings a year. 

This follows a 2025 large-scale study in Singapore, which found that parents’ criminal history is significantly associated with a higher risk of youth offending. 

After controlling for other factors, these children were 2.2 times as likely to offend as those whose parents never got into trouble with the law. 

The study, done by MSF and the National Council of Social Service, was based on an analysis of anonymised administrative data of about 1.5 million parents and children.

Siblings face similar challenges to those that led their brother or sister into trouble, such as financial woes, parental incarceration, divorce, family violence and other stresses. 

“They may also have fewer trusted adults, positive role models and support networks to draw from when they encounter challenges of their own,” said an MSF spokesperson.

“These challenges can affect a young person’s sense of stability, their engagement in school and their relationships with others.

“Experiencing such challenges does not mean the sibling will offend, but it indicates that they could benefit from additional support and positive influences in their lives.”

MSF officers like Tee identify siblings of youth offenders – aged 13 to 21 – who could benefit from more support to help them stay clear of trouble.

They are brought into the programme when a brother or sister is placed on probation or sent to a juvenile rehabilitation centre.

The young people in the Pivot Families programme usually have parents with a criminal past as well, Tee said. 

MSF first mentioned the Pivot Families programme when it released the Supporting Youth Rehabilitation Trends Report on Sept 29, which showed that about 19% more young people were arrested in 2025.

A total of 3,117 young people aged between 10 and 21 were arrested in 2025, up from 2,627 in 2024. The rise was largely driven by an increase in cheating offences, such as young people acting as scam mules.

On Pivot Families, the MSF spokesperson said: “To our knowledge, this is the first programme internationally to systematically use engagement with youth offenders as an entry point to identify and support siblings and families at risk of intergenerational offending.”

Many parents Tee works with are overwhelmed by several problems at once, she said, including financial woes, caregiving stress and incarceration. Their capacity to supervise their children is strained.

Much of her work involves helping parents better supervise children, improve communication and strengthen bonds. 

For the siblings, the focus is on addressing the issues they face and exposing them to positive influences and activities, among other things. 

MSF officers also work with social workers, school counsellors and other professionals already supporting the families to ensure they receive coordinated help.

Another family Tee is helping is a mother in her 40s with three children. Her eldest son, 17, ran afoul of the law after hitting someone in a fight.

For the past three months, Tee has been working with his 16-year-old brother and his school counsellor to address why he shows up for classes only once or twice a week. She is also helping him set and pursue his goals after finishing his N-level exams. 

“He skips school, lags behind academically and can’t catch up, and so he doesn’t want to go,” she said. “He also has to take his younger sister to school, and he would miss school.”

To help him get back on track, Tee and the school counsellor have arranged supplementary lessons and are exploring youth development programmes to help him discover his interests and develop positive habits and skills.

Tee said the mother is still reeling from the breakdown of her second marriage, from which she has an eight-year-old daughter, and needs support in various ways, such as to better manage her children.

Her two sons are from her first marriage, to a man who was previously jailed for drug offences.

Tee is working with the mother and her family coach to help her find a more stable job, instead of gig work, to ease her financial strain.

She said: “They are receptive, and the (boy) is very thankful for the additional adults in his life now.”