The Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) is a key legislation that safeguards the care, protection and rehabilitation of our children and young persons.
Originally known as the Children and Young Persons Ordinance in 1949, the CYPA has been re-enacted and amended over the years. The most recent amendments to the Act took effect on 1 Jul 2020.
These amendments seek to strengthen Government and community support for abused and neglected children, and improve the rehabilitation and reintegration of children with offending behaviour.
Key Amendments
The amendments that have taken effect aim to achieve three key purposes:
- Safeguard the interests of abused or neglected children
- Improve the rehabilitation and reintegration of youth offenders and
- Guide families, with community support.
The key amendments are summarised in the infographic below:
For more information on the amendments to the Children and Young Persons Act, please refer to the following links:
Media Release on Introduction of the Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Bill
Opening Speech at Second Reading of the Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Bill
Closing Speech at Second Reading of the Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Bill
Infographic on the Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Bill
Updated Children and Young Persons Act (As at 1 Jul 2020)
See Also
Children and Young Persons Homes
Children and Young Persons Homes provide residential care programmes for children and young persons who may be in need of care, protection or rehabilitation.
Policy on Protection & Welfare of Children
Child abuse is defined as any act of commission or commission by a parent or guardian which would endanger or impair the child’s physical or emotional well-being or that are judged by a mixture of community values and professionals to be inappropriate.
Requires juvenile offenders to reside in a place of detention to learn relevant skills through exercise drills and groupwork.
Weekend Detention is one of the options available to the Juvenile Court when dealing with an offender below 16 years of age.
Institutional Rehabilitation Of Children & Young Persons
Institutional rehabilitation of children and young persons who have committed offences.