[BCM] [CAS] [E1] [C1] Overview of BCM Case Study

Chapter 1

Children’s Aid Society

The Children’s Aid Society (CAS), one of Singapore’s oldest secular organisations supporting vulnerable children and families, plays a vital role in ensuring the safety, stability, and development of its beneficiaries.

As CAS continues to expand its services—including residential care, counselling, outreach, and family support—it must be prepared to manage disruptions that could impact its ability to deliver essential services.

Business Continuity Management (BCM) provides a structured approach for CAS to safeguard its mission and services during emergencies, disruptions, or disasters.

By embedding resilience into its operations, CAS not only protects its beneficiaries and stakeholders but also strengthens public trust in its ability to provide care under all circumstances.

This chapter outlines the BCM implementation journey for CAS, moving from understanding its organisational context to applying the structured BCM planning methodology.

Section 1: Understanding the Organisation

Before BCM implementation begins, it is crucial to understand the organisation in its entirety.

This includes reviewing CAS’s operational environment, critical services, and unique role in the community. Section 1 provides the foundation for the BCM journey by addressing the following areas:

Introducing BCM for The Children’s Aid Society

Understanding The Children’s Aid Society’s Operations

Identifying BCM Goals for The Children’s Aid Society

Aligns BCM objectives with CAS’s mission of providing care, protection, and support to children, ensuring continuity of these services during a disruption.

Establishing BC Objectives for The Children’s Aid Society

Determining BC Assumptions for The Children’s Aid Society

Developing the BCM Team Composition

Identifies the leadership team and key staff who will drive the BCM effort, assigning responsibilities and accountabilities for continuity planning.

Analysing Operating Environment

Considers internal and external factors, including regulatory requirements, stakeholder expectations, and socio-economic influences that shape CAS’s resilience needs.

Implementing the BCM Planning Methodology

Introduces the structured BCM process that CAS will adopt, ensuring systematic coverage of risks, impacts, and response strategies.

Assessing Risks and Threats for The Children’s Aid Society

Reviews potential threats such as fire, health pandemics, cyber-attacks, funding challenges, and reputational risks, with emphasis on their impact on CAS’s service delivery.

Identifying Critical Business Functions

This section provides the contextual foundation for BCM, ensuring that continuity planning is tailored to CAS’s unique organisational mission and structure.

Section 2: Implementing Business Continuity Management

With a firm understanding of CAS’s organisational context, the next step is to implement the BCM planning methodology.

This methodology consists of seven key phases, each of which supports the systematic development of resilience and recovery capabilities.

1. Project Management (PM)

This phase ensures that the BCM project is initiated correctly, planned, and monitored. CAS establishes project timelines, resource allocation, and governance to oversee BCM development.

2. Risk Analysis and Review (RAR)

Risk analysis identifies potential threats and vulnerabilities facing CAS. This includes both internal and external risks that could disrupt residential care, counselling, or administrative functions.

3. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

The BIA assesses the impact of disruptions on CAS’s services. It prioritises critical functions, determines recovery time objectives (RTOs), and establishes minimum service levels that must be maintained.

4. Business Continuity Strategy (BCS)

CAS develops strategies to ensure continuity of critical services, such as alternate accommodation arrangements for children, remote counselling sessions, and emergency communication systems.

5. Plan Development (PD)

Detailed continuity and recovery plans are created. These include emergency response procedures, staff mobilisation protocols, IT recovery measures, and stakeholder communication plans.

6. Testing and Exercising (TE)

CAS validates its BCM plans through simulations, drills, and tabletop exercises. This ensures staff readiness and identifies gaps for improvement.

7. Program Management (PgM)

This phase ensures the sustainability of BCM. CAS integrates BCM into its organisational culture, with periodic reviews, updates, and continuous training to maintain readiness.

Summing Up …

The Children’s Aid Society’s BCM implementation journey is a commitment to resilience in service.

By first understanding its organisational structure, mission, and operational environment, CAS builds a strong foundation for continuity planning.

The subsequent application of the structured BCM planning methodology ensures that CAS can anticipate disruptions, respond effectively, and recover swiftly.

Ultimately, BCM is more than a compliance requirement—it is an essential safeguard for the children and families CAS serves.

Through this process, CAS strengthens its role as a trusted provider of care and support, demonstrating that even in times of crisis, its commitment to protecting and nurturing vulnerable children remains unwavering.

More Information About Business Continuity Management Courses

To learn more about the course and schedule, click the buttons below for the BCM-300 Business Continuity Management Implementer [B-3] course and the BCM-5000 Business Continuity Management Expert Implementer [B-5].