The first three years of life are a crucial period in child development. Israel has some half a million children aged birth to 3, and they and their parents have special needs. While a variety of services are designed to help them cope with these needs, there has been no attempt to develop policy from a more comprehensive and integrative perspective for this population. Moreover, there is a lack of centralized data on the unmet needs and the challenges faced by the service system in its attempt to respond to them.
Ashalim’s Professional Committee on Early Childhood turned to the MJB to obtain a broad current picture of the situation in the field. The goals of the study were to provide a better factual basis for developing possible guidelines for an inter-ministerial policy and intervention programs. Special attention was devoted to the needs of populations living in poverty or complex life situations, and populations with different cultures.
This study has, for the first time, brought together detailed data on infants and toddlers from a range of sources: the various national databases, focus groups of parents and professionals, interviews with executive staff of ministries and public organizations and with academics, the literature from Israel, and selected comparisons with the literature from abroad. The report provides information on the characteristics of the children and their needs, the main available services, and the patterns of utilization, barriers to utilization, and unmet needs. Also presented are principles for the development of an overall policy on the provision of services to this population.
Below are selected findings:
-
The parents cited the need for more support and in particular for accessible, reliable information on a broad range of issues related to parenting practices, dealing with crises and transitions, and service utilization. These needs were expressed more strongly by populations living in poverty or dangerous life situations.
-
Professionals and academics cited in particular the challenge of providing quality care; the inadequate availability of professional specialization and ongoing training for caregivers; and the inadequate capacity of family-health and child-development clinics.
-
Another key issue that emerged was the need for better regulation and ongoing quality assurance.
The need for a systemic perspective and the promotion of cooperation among the various professionals and services was widely emphasized.
The report was presented and discussed at length at Ashalim’s Professional Committee on Early Childhood which includes representatives from all the relevant ministries and professional groups, and is actively engaged in developing an action plan.
The study was commissioned by Ashalim and its Professional Committee on Early Childhood, and funded with Ashalim’s assistance.
Citing suggestion: Vazan-Sikron, L., Rotem, R., & Ben-Rabi, D. (2016). Infants and Toddlers in Israel: Needs of Children and Parents, Services and Policy. RR-695-16. Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute. (Hebrew)