Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association is in charge of assisting drug offenders in their rehabilitation and reintegration to society. Sessions were split into incare (In Prison) and aftercare sessions (In the community) where social workers would consult and assess the clients’ needs to understand their current issues and problems.

 

At SANA's Step-Up Centre, I was most impacted by their counseling and casework with current and ex-inmates who are looking at probation for the remainder of their sentence.

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During my internship, I picked up the basics of social work, such as casework and counselling. It taught me more about the administrative side of social work, learning to write reports, case notes and paper work of intake and assessments.

 

Moreover, I was able to understand how detrimental administrative work is for social workers and build my administrative skills from there. SANA offers a multitude of support for offenders who were just released and who are preparing for release. This includes financial support, counselling support and employment support.

 

I also learnt about the importance of rapport building and understanding more about the client’s situation first, rather than diving to help them. From there, I practiced the skill of empathy, understanding clients, and reflectiveness, looking for areas of improvement and generally understanding what social work is about when working in SANA.​​