Parent Partnership - "Seeing A Child, Thinking Family" Model For Joint Work: Family, Boarding School and Community

Organizational Background

"Yeladim - Fair Chance for Children" was established in 1986 to help children and youth who are in out-of-home frameworks (such as residential care facilities) during childhood to transition successfully to adulthood. Yeladim is dedicated to the children’s social and psychological development; protecting their rights and pulling them out of the cycle of distress and violence. Our programming includes a wide range of educational, care, leisure and enrichment programs for children and youth throughout Israel. The programs are developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Welfare and external professionals, in accordance with the existing needs in the field.

Program Description - Parent Partnership

The "Parent Partnership" program offers a unique model for working with children in residential care facilities. The operating theory is based on two axes: systemic and individual. The systemic axis relates to the overall assessment of the facility - organizational change, assimilation of the model, and development of suitable tools and responses. The individual axis relates to the construction of a personalized program that is adapted to each child and family. The key to change is in intensive collaborative work with the staff of the facility, which includes thorough training.

In terms of the residential care facilities, the child`s absorption is a critical stage for both the child and the parents. Other key issues include the implementation of procedures for continuous communication between the staff and parents, the parents’ participation in various aspects of the child`s life (educational, therapeutic, health) through parent groups and increasing the parents` presence in the child`s life.