New network links Home Team psychologists, mental health bodies to boost emergency response
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The new network was launched on July 16 by Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Sim Ann (centre) at the Asian Conference on Criminal and Operations Psychology.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – A new initiative bringing together Home Team psychologists and correctional rehabilitation specialists, as well as professionals from mental health associations, has been rolled out to enhance Singapore’s crisis management and psychological support in emergencies.
The Human Emergency Assistance and Response Teams (Heart) Professionals Network was launched on July 16 by Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Sim Ann at the Asian Conference on Criminal and Operations Psychology (Accop).
“This network aims to enhance knowledge sharing, improve intervention approaches and strengthen inter-agency partnerships in the areas of mental health and crisis management,” said Ms Sim.
“This alliance will enable Singapore to be better prepared for future emergencies – not just with infrastructure but with coordinated emotional and psychological response capability.”
Ms Sim said the participating mental health associations are the Singapore Psychiatric Association, Singapore Association for Counselling, Singapore Psychological Society and Singapore Association of Social Workers.
The initiative is an expansion of the Heart Network launched in 2019 to help Singapore respond to terrorist attacks.
The Heart Network enables hospitals and polyclinics to pool resources, as well as share knowledge and expertise, to provide psychological aid in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.
Under this network, the medical institutions would collaborate with mental health professionals from the Home Team, the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the Institute of Mental Health.
The expanded initiative was one of two networks announced at the conference, which has the theme “Psychological Insight, Operational Foresight”.
Ms Sim also launched the Asian Psychology, Crime, and Law Network – a platform that brings together forensic and legal psychologists, criminologists, law enforcement professionals and researchers across the Asia-Pacific.
This regional network aims to exchange best practices in criminal, legal and rehabilitation psychology, strengthen collaboration in tackling cross-border crime through better understanding of human behaviour, and advance psychological research on crime trends, behavioural analysis and extremism.
The professionals and researchers come from Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
In her speech, Ms Sim said security threats now include psychological assaults on trust, identity and unity, and there are four urgent fronts.
The first is youth drug abuse, which is on the rise, Ms Sim said, citing recent statistics that show a 30 per cent increase in the number of abusers under the age of 20 in 2024
“The trend that we are seeing in young drug abusers is persistent and unwelcome,” she said, noting that in 2024, the youngest drug abuser arrested was 13 years old. In 2025 so far, the youngest case is a 14-year-old.
Ms Sim also described the trend of youth self-radicalisation as worrying. A total of 17 young people have been detained
The third concern is the rise in technology-facilitated scams. Noting that victims in Singapore lost $1.1 billion in scams in 2024
The fourth issue she highlighted was technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and violence.
“Not only do victims suffer psychological harm – if not outright physical harm – the factors that drive these violations are themselves pathological,” she said.
Ms Sim emphasised the importance of psychological expertise in understanding why people fall prey or behave in various ways. Such insight is essential to protecting the community, she said, adding that the Home Team integrates psychological science into every facet of its work.
For example, the Singapore Civil Defence Force became the first unit certified by the United Nations’ International Search and Rescue Advisory Group to include mental health professionals in international disaster response.
Around 500 people, including academics, psychologists, public safety officers and behavioural scientists, are taking part in the 2025 Accop – the sixth edition of the conference – held at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel on July 16 and 17.
