Promoting Research-Based Social Policy-Making in Israel

Abstract – Promoting Research Based Social Policy Making in Israel
Professor Jack Habib

One of the challenges of all societies is to integrate research in the development of national policies and programs. At the initiative of the AJJDC, The Myers-JDC-The Brookdale Institute was established in 1974 as a national social policy and service research institute promoting data-based policy development and ongoing evaluation.

Initially, the institute focused on the rapid process of population aging that Israel was facing, but after a few years it was asked to expand its focus to include the broad range of major social issues, such as: health, education, children at risk, immigrant absorption, and employment of the disadvantaged.

The institute is a partnership between the government of Israel and the AJJDC, with a unique board of directors that combines both leading members of the AJJDC board along with the general directors of Israel’s social ministries, and the budget director of the finance ministry. It serves as a major venue for promoting research-based policy making in Israel.

Another venue of the institute’s work was with JDC Israel, the service development arm of the JDC, that partnered directly with government in developing and piloting new social services.

This presentation will discuss the challenges and the strategies that contributed to the success of these efforts and will illustrate them with selected case studies.