Working with Residential Care Children’s Families – Implementing a New Policy Change

Nurturing relationships between the child and his/her family is essential to the child`s development and future success. Thus, any effective program working with children in out-of-home care should involve and seek cooperation of the parents. Such a program must strengthen the family, as well as facilitate an interface between the children, their families, the residential care staff and the welfare authorities. The "Parent Partnership" model offers a sustainable answer to these needs. The model – developed by the association Yeladim – A Fair Chance to Children in partnership with the the Ministry of Welfare, JDC-Ashalim and the National Insurance Institute – is on the verge of concluding its pilot stage and is scheduled to be replicated to all of the Ministry of Welfare`s residential care programs in Israel.

• The Parent Partnership Model – From Pilot to Implementation – Presenting the model and preparations for transitioning from a pilot program to one that is assimilated across the whole network of therapeutic residential care centers.

• Staff attitudes as a barrier for change – At the residential care centers, staff members often approach the parents with their own predispositions in mind. Some see families as an important factor and a vital source of support for the child, while others do not. We learned from the pilot project that engaging staff`s attitudes is essential to ensure long-term success of the process.

• Parents as partners and experts – Presenting our work model, which focuses on the parent as a partner and as experts concerning their child.

• Family vacation – Yeladim is leading a conceptual change as it views the vacation as an opportunity to strengthen the bonds between the child and his/her family and initiates opportunities for positive, quality time.