SPD was presented with the Certificate of Grant Award by Minister of Social Family Development, Mr Desmond Lee, at the Enabling Village on 29 September. Under the Tote Board – Enabling Lives Initiative, the Transition To Employment (TTE) programme, which began as a pilot project in 2014, will be further funded for another two years from 1 October 2017.

“We are very thankful to Tote board for this funding support for the next two years. It will enable us to rehabilitate more persons with disabilities with the aim of helping them return to mainstream employment,”

said Mr Gary Chia, Assistant Director, Adult and Elderly Services.

Formerly known as the Transition Programme to Employment, this initiative has benefited more than 150 young adults with disabilities and successfully placed 70 of them back into mainstream employment. The programme is tailored according to individual needs by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals consisting of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, and employment support specialists.

TTE clients receive intervention support such as active rehabilitation, work hardening training as well as employment placement and support. The team of professionals conducts regular assessments and reviews the clients’ progression towards set goals to ensure that they are on the right track to employment.

Moving on from the pilot phase, the programme aims to extend its reach to more people with disabilities by widening its criteria to include more acquired physical disabilities, beyond the current scope of stroke, spinal cord injuries (SCI) and amputation.