Background
In recent years, there have been multiple changes in the child and youth out-of-home care facilities supervised by the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs (hereafter, Ministry of Welfare). These include policy changes, changes in the structure of these facilities, and changes in approaches to care. Moreover, the professional literature in Israel and worldwide consistently suggests that in recent decades, children and youth placed in residential care facilities have been facing complex challenges, more so than in the past. Given those changes, the Residential Placement Unit of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security (hereafter, the unit) asked the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute to examine the characteristics and needs of children and youth in out-of-home care, and the compatibility and effectiveness of the services provided to them.
Objectives
- Help the Residential Placement Unit develop tools for (1) Conducting evaluations and planning interventions for children; (2) Monitoring the outputs (activities and practices) and the achievement of outcomes; (3) Facilitating ongoing follow-up of the children’s characteristics, needs, and strengths and previous interventions and their degree of success. These tools are designed to serve as the basis for a computerized system used by care facility employees for informed planning of interventions, for their documentation, and for measuring their outcomes. In addition, the tools will help unit employees develop intervention policies and standards for their implementation, draw up tenders for operating residential facilities, and compare various models of out-of-home care.
- Conduct a measurement pilot to examine the degree to which the tools developed serve their purpose, before their implementation on a regular basis. This report presents the findings from this pilot measurement.
- Support the implementation of outcome-based thinking in the unit’s routing operations by (1) Providing training for staff and field employees on planning, measurement and learning informed by outcome-based thinking; (2) Structuring the computerized files regarding each of the children, based on the principles of outcome-based thinking.
Method
Tools: An Assessment and Intervention Planning Results (T0) questionnaire for social workers in the care facilities, in two parts: (1) Assessment of the characteristics of children and their families; significant life events and previous interventions; inner strengths and external resources; and needs (difficulties, problems and concerns) in seven life areas; (2) Intervention planning (drawing up a personal plan for the child): selecting the primary needs for intervention; desirable outcomes and success indicators; and outputs: services and interventions.
Sample: Data were collected on all ~6,500 children and youth in all types of out-of-home care supervised by the Ministry of Welfare.
Data Collection: The survey was computerized on the Ministry of Welfare’s system and went live on December 28, 2022. It was filled out by social workers in the facilities. Data collection ended on July 1, 2023. A total of 3,441 survey forms were completed (at various degrees of completeness: assessment / goal setting / personal plan) – a 53% response rate.
Findings
Two-thirds (61%) of the residents are boys, 78% are Jewish, 74% are in high school ages, and 84% are placed in Maof settings. 45% have ADHD, 24% have a learning disability, 24% have a psychiatric disorder, and 57% have had a traumatic experience. At least one strength was identified for 94% of children, whereas no strengths were identified for 6% of the children. The areas in which children have the most needs are the emotional-mental, family, and educational-academic-occupational areas. The most commonly used intervention approaches are individual emotional therapy (63%), contact with the child’s family (61%), afterschool tutoring and academic support (32%), and acquisition of basic life skills (32%).
Looking ahead
The next measurement (T1) will take place in November 2023. That second measurement will make it possible to detect changes in the children’s characteristics, needs, and strengths, and monitor the outputs (activities and practices) and the achievement of outcomes.
Citing suggestion: Reznikovski-Kuras, A., Shapira, H., & Arazi, T. (2024). Out-of-Home Facilities for Children and Youth at Risk, 2023: Assessment and Intervention Planning Results (T0) . S-228-24. Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute. (Hebrew)