About 80 selected agencies to manage child abuse cases from May 1

Only agencies with relevant expertise will be allowed to manage child abuse cases from May 1, following recommendations from a review of the events leading up to the death of four-year-old Megan Khung.

- Theresa Tan Senior Social Affairs Correspondent and Christine Tan

About 80 newly designated child protection case management (CPCM) agencies will take the lead in handling such cases.

A new independent panel of experts will also resolve disagreements between agencies over how best to protect a child, including when they differ over the level of risk the child faces.

Known as the Triage Assessment Panel (TAP), it will determine whether the appropriate agency has been assigned to a case, and make a final decision within six working days of getting the referral.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) announced these two new moves on April 30, following an October 2025 report by an independent review panel into Megan's case.

Megan suffered prolonged abuse by her mother and the latter's boyfriend for over a year before she died in 2020, in a case that drew public scrutiny and numerous questions in Parliament.

The report had found that the authorities and agencies involved could have done more to prevent her death.

Among the gaps identified was that some agencies working with children, but lacking child protection expertise, faced challenges in managing child abuse cases.

Megan's injuries were first noticed by her preschool. Its parent social service agency, Beyond Social Services, flagged the case to child protection specialist centre Heart@Fei Yue and Child Protective Service (CPS), which was a division at the MSF.

But Heart@Fei Yue did not take up the case, while CPS did not log the call, according to processes.

MSF started a disciplinary investigation into the CPS officer's actions. When asked for an update, MSF told The Straits Times on April 30 that investigations are ongoing.

A spokeswoman added that the ministry is aware of public interest in this matter and will take followup action if any misconduct is found.