From Risk to Opportunity is a project aimed at immigrant youth aged 12–18, who are potentially at risk from the combined crises of adolescence and immigration. The project goal was to provide suitable treatment for youth at risk and add to preventive measures through cooperation across various community agencies working with immigrant youth. The project was implemented as a pilot in a few cities, for immigrant youth. It was planned and funded by the ministries of Immigrant Absorption, Education, and Social Affairs and Social Services, Ashalim and the local authorities. It was implemented by the nonprofit organization, Yedidim.
The project aimed to provide a comprehensive response to the needs of approximately 500 of the 2,000 immigrant youths living in each of the project’s participating cities. The national committee recommended several areas of responsiveness: Activities at cultural and leisure centers, monitoring and support of juvenile offenders, making use of cultural liaisons, and training and counseling for those working with immigrant youth.
The report presents findings from an evaluation study conducted in three cities – Hadera, Ashkelon, and Nazerat Illit (Upper Nazareth) – in 2004–2006. Sources of information included youths, project coordinators and counselors, and key persons at local and national levels.
A range of programs, mainly leisure and other after-school activities, were implemented in the cities during the evaluation period. The participants expressed satisfaction with the activities and with the staff’s approach and reported that the project had made several contributions, particularly to their leisure time at youth clubs, some of which are still active. Furthermore, the project managed to integrate into the existing systems of inter-agency cooperation, particularly in Hadera and Nazerat Illit, and even to strengthen them.
Nonetheless, the evaluation points to significant discrepancies between planning and implementation, which seriously hampered the project goal of offering comprehensive responses to immigrant youth at risk. The project ran into budgetary problems, which curtailed existing activities rendering its continuation uncertain. Leisure activities did continue for some time, but the school liaison and mentoring programs, and the support for juvenile offenders were discontinued. Participation in the city programs was also lower than planned. Moreover, the project failed to reach high-risk youth; most of the participants in the project attended normative education frameworks. However, the percentage of those involved in risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol abuse) was higher than in the general Jewish population.
Relations between the national committee and Yedidim, the implementing organization, were strained over the division of responsibilities and work aims. This made it hard to pass on information and build trust between the local systems and the project staff at the national level.
The study findings were presented to the national committee, which served as the steering committee for the study, and to the local professional committees as a basis for improving the project. The study was initiated and funded by Ashalim.