The Israeli Residential Education & Care Association (IRECA)
Israeli Fice National section
History of Fice-Israel national section
and its organizational structure
Written by Dr. Emmanuel Grupper
The Foundation of the Fice National Section
Youth Aliyah, was a leading youth agency in Israel, saving and rehabilitating youth since its creation in Berlin in 1934, specializing in developping an original nationwide residential network. Several years after the creation of Fice-International, in 1950, Israel joined Fice-International. It was accepted that this one organization (Youth Aliyah), will represent Israel in Fice and serve as Israel's National section. In that time Israel wasn't the only country to use this model. In France one big organization namely, ANCE, served as the French National section, the same for Luxembourg (ANCE Luxembourg), Germany (IGFH) and Finland.
However, in 1996 Youth Aliyah ceased to exist as an independent body, therefore, couldn't continue to represent the entire field of residential care in Israel. A very small fragment of it continued to exist and partially continued to take part in Fice-International activities until 2004. However, the entire body of residential educators in Israel couldn't accept this situation and in 1997 a new Israeli National section was created, "Israeli Residential Education & Care Association (IRECA)". This new National section was accepted to Fice as associate member in the Federal Council in Florence, 1997 and accepted as full member in the Jubilee Fice congress in Paris on June 1998. For several years there has been two Israeli sections present in the Federal council meetings, but Since 2005, there is again only one National section (IRECA), representing the entire field of Israeli residential workers in Fice-International.
Organization and finance of the national section
The National Fice section has no paid staff or any organizational infrastructure. All members are working for Fice on voluntary basis. However, the main agency for residential education & care in the Ministry of Education, is offering Fice-National section free of charge administrative services, and is also supplying a certain amount of the yearly budget. The main financial resources come from membership fees.
Membership
The board of Fice-Israel decided to encourage membership of institutions. Therefore an institution that joins the national section pays an institutional fee that enables its entire staff to be considered as members. For 2007 we have 65 residential institutions that paid their annual fees. With an average of 30 staff members in each we reach almost 2,000 residential workers who are members.
Activities
a. Encouraging Israeli residential educators to take active part in Fice-International activities, namely, Congresses, seminars, P.E.P. programs etc.
b. Organizing exchange study-visits in collaboration with other Fice national sections. Each program of professional visits includes also one day of a more theoretical seminar on a topic decided upon together with our Fice-partners. During the last years we had organized such projects with the national Fice-Sections of Holland, Denmark, Romania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Germany and France.
c. One annual meeting of Fice-Israel members. This is organized in the form of a one-day seminar on a most relevant topic. The last was related to children's rights in our residential institutions.
d. Professional changes that had emerged out of these exchanges are feasible in several domains: The most important one is the push towards professionalisation of the direct residential care workers. There was in the past a negative attitude towards such professionalisation. It could have been changed only through the exposure of decision-makers in residential programs to the situation in other countries. Their positive impressions of the high professional level of direct care workers in many European Fice Sections, enabled to change the policy in Israel. Another example is the transformation of group homes with large size of adolescents, to family type units. These changes were directly connected to study visits of Israeli Directors of residential programs who were highly impressed by models they saw in practice, in other Fice countries and later tried to implement them in Israel.
Future
We plan to continue and enlarge, as much as possible, the number of residential direct care workers or program's directors, exposed to residential programs in other countries. This, by using Fice-International network and collaborating with national sections.
Special Features
One of the biggest success of the Fice-Israel national section is that it had become the only platform where residential staff members from different types of programs can meet together. It includes Jewish and Arab residential workers, Religious and secular type of institutions. Boarding schools under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education together with treatment oriented residential programs under the supervision of the Welfare Ministry. All these workers have a lot in common. The activities of the new Fice-Israel National section are their only opportunity to meet and discuss their common preoccupations and professional dilema.
General information about extra-familial care in Israel
In Israel residential education and care are important factors in the general educational system, especially in the adolescent age group. In the eighties, 20% of the total youth population in Israel were enrolled in residential educational institutions, it went down to 11% in 1989 and back up to 15% in 1996. Nowadays, the last statistics are presenting a figure of almost 10% of the secondary school population (12-18 age group), educated in residential programs.
Both prior to and since the establishment of the State of Israel, residential education has played a uniquely successful role in absorbing, acculturating and helping great numbers of new immigrants to integrate and become productive, contributing citizens. Similarly, native youths and children, having a difficult socio-economical background, have also benefited from residential education and care in Israel.
Children’s and youth villages, vocational and academic boarding schools, kibbutz youth groups, children’s homes and treatment centers are but a few of the various kind of settings that make up the residential education and care network in Israel.
Characteristic of many of these settings is the heterogeneous make-up of the children’s population. New immigrants learn together with native Israelis. Children from both extremes of the socio-economic ladder sit side by side helping each other. Strong and weak students cope with the same daily challenges. In general, all of these children live under the same roof, in mixed peer groups and classes at school.
Objectives of Israeli Fice National section
The Israeli Residential Education & Care Association
Was created in 1997 with the objective to see for the further
implementation of children’s rights in residential institutions in
Israel. It is the belief of its founding members that this goal will
Be achieved by the enhancement of the quality of services
rendered to children and youth at risk who are in need of
residential education and care. In addition to various initiatives
that are being undertaken by the members in their respective
professions, the Israeli Residential Education & Care Association
is seeking to involve more and more Israeli professionals in the
international networks of FICE - International.
In accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Israeli Residential Education & Care Association supports all endeavors which further the global realization of the International Rights of the Child as defined by the United Nations and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It focuses on the disadvantaged child, immigrant children or other children and youth at risk.
The Israeli Residential Education & Care Association promotes international exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of child and youth care. The Israeli Residential Education & Care Association endeavors to improve extra-familial care and to represent institutions in which children and adolescents live in extra-familial care for shorter or longer periods of time.
To realize these objectives the Israeli Residential Education & Care Association organizes congresses, seminars, training Sessions and symposia which promote the exchange of experience and the further education of professionals in the child and youth care field. It encourages scientific research and the practical application of educational theories. It disseminates and publishes findings mainly through local or international journals, and in particular, through the FICE-International Press.
The Israeli Residential Education & Care Association is An active member in FICE International and FICE Europe so as to represent the vast majority of professional workers active on the Israeli scene at international meetings. Its intention is to promote greater participation of Israeli professionals in these international forums.
The agencies taking part in the composition of Israeli Residential Education & Care Association are the following organizations:
a) The Administration for Rural Education and Youth Aliyah
Operating 283 residential educational institutions and youth groups on kibbutz, and encompassing 22,000 adolescents from at- risk populations from various backgrounds. The Administration for Rural Education and Youth Aliyah in the Ministry of Education is
the leading professional agency in the field of residential
education in Israel. Being the largest organization in the field,
The Administration for Rural Education and Youth Aliyah is
represented by four members on the board.
b) The Owner’s Association of Youth-Villages
This is an Association that represents the owners of the most
important Youth-villages and residential institutions in Israel.
They are represented in the Board by two members.
c) The Youth Villages Association of Directors
The Youth Villages Association of Directors, which includes directors of 54 of the leading youth villages in Israel, is represented by two members on the board.
d) The National Authority for Children and Youth at Risk, and the
Youth Protection Authority
Both operating as professional bodies of the Ministry for Social
Welfare. The National Authority for Children and Youth at Risk
cares for about 9000 needy children by securing their placement in
more than 100 various residential institutions and caring for all
children in foster care arrangements. The Youth Protection
Authority caters for 900 Youth at Risk placed by Court after having
been involved in delinquency. Together they are represented by
three members on the board.
e) The Association of Residential Treatment Centers’ Directors
This is an association that represent almost 60 Residential
Treatment centers, both Arabs and Jews, in various types of
institutions. The Association of Residential Treatment Centers’
Directors is represented on the board by two members.
The Actual composition of the Israeli Residential Education & Care Association Board is:
Representatives of the Administration for Rural Education & Youth Aliyah in the Ministry of Education:
Dr. Emmanuel Grupper, Dr. Yehiel Shilo, Mrs. Lia Meron, Mr. Yossi Goshen.
Representatives of the Owner’s Association of Youth-Villages
Dr. Amnon Eldar, Mr. Haim Zamorski
Representatives of the National Authority for Children and Youth at Risk, and The Youth Protection Authority (Both parts of the Ministry of Social Welfare):
Mr. Motti Winter, Mr. Reuven Yakov, Mr. Zvi Hoizlich.
Representatives of the Youth Villages Directors’ Association:
Mr. David Elbaum, Mr. Saul Elbaz
Representatives of the Association of Residential Treatment Centers’ Directors
Mr. Osama Abu-Daoud, Mr. Yoav Appelboim
The General Assembly elected the officers to the different tasks:
Dr. Emmanuel Grupper, President
Mr. Zvi Hoizlich, Vice-President
Mr. Saul Elbaz, Secretary General
Mr. David Elbaum, Treasurer
Mr. Zeev Tuito, Chairman of the Audit Committee