Dr. Dafna Haran

This study set out to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the five-year plan: to examine the benefits of the plan to the Negev Bedouin population by drawing on an extensive range of perspectives and relying on appropriate research methods. In particular, the study aim was to shed light on how the plan was developed and tailored; to identify international best practices in reducing inequalities and strengthening community resilience, primarily regarding disempowered minorities; to examine the extent to which the plan achieved its core goals; to aid decision makers in improving future plans; and to provide the public with a reliable portrayal of the plan's development and implementation.

The National Authority for Community Safety (hereinafter: the Authority) operates in local authorities across Israel to prevent violence, delinquency, and anti-social behavior as well as against drug and alcohol abuse. The Arab Population Team at the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute conducted a research-based consultation for the Authority's Southern District, related to its activities among the Bedouin population in the Negev. The counselling was conducted in the course of 2022 as part of the evaluation study of the five-year socio-economic development plan for the Bedouin population in the Negev for 2017-2021. The goal of the consultation was to assist the Authority in improving its monitoring and measurement system in order to improve its ability to conduct a focused examination of the impact of its work on the target population.

The objectives of the stuy were to examine changes in PSMI's utilization of MH services, including community-based MH care, psychiatric rehabilitation ('rehabilitation basket' services) and psychiatric hospitalization, as well as of general healthcare services, five years after the reform went into effect. The study also examined the aspects in which the reform achieved its goals and the aspects in which the concerns that were raised regarding its implementation materialized, as perceived by PSMI.

The Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute is conducting a comprehensive study of the five-year plan set forth in the Resolution. The study examines the implementation of the five-year plan and the impact of the plan – of each of its parts and of the plan as a whole – and offers recommendations for actions required to maintain, modify, or improve the design and implementation of the upcoming five-year plan for 2022-2026. The study is based on the collection and pooling of information from multiple sources, the use of various research methods, and the adoption of an implementation-oriented approach, including the suggestion of strategies for policy development.

The goals of the study were: Mapping the life domains of the Bedouin population affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; Identifying the directions of the pandemic’s effects and their magnitude in those life domains; Devising policy recommendations for dealing with the pandemic’s effects

A comprehensive review of the Gateway to Academia Program details the barriers and challenges facing young Bedouins in the Negev who seek to integrate in higher education in Israel.

For a related article on the International Bar Association website, click here.   “None of us know how long this crisis is going to last. In many respects we are going to have to put our lives “on hold” until COVID-19 is resolved. But children’s lives – and vitally important family relationships – cannot be placed “on […]

The Brookdale Child Disability Screening Questionnaire is a unique, innovative and comprehensive tool, developed on the basis of a survey of the many tools in use in the area of children with disabilities.  Moreover, it contains questions relating to a broad range of disabilities and health problems, yet it is easy to understand and to use.

This report presents an international review of the main tools used to define and measure disability around the world in order to formulate a reliable measurement tool to identify people with disabilities in Israel.

The literature review was written at the request of JDC Israel Unlimited as part of a pilot of service provision based on personal budgets (PB).The review deals with the practical aspects of PB programs around the world.

In July 2015, the mental health (MH) insurance reform was introduced, transferring responsibility for the provision of MH services from the Ministry of Health to the health plans. One of the main target groups of the reform, which is the focus of this study, is the population of persons with severe mental illness (PSMI), who, due to their […]

The Laron Amendment was designed to encourage GDA recipients to integrate into employment or to expand their participation in it. To evaluate the implications of the amendment for the employment status of GDA recipients, the National Insurance Institute (NII) initiated a follow-up study, onducted in conjunction with the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute (MJB).

Following the Laron Committee recommendations, the National Insurance Law was amended to change the structure of disability benefits and the conditions of eligibility to create greater incentives for integrate into the job market. MJB and the NII are conducting a follow-up study of the implications of the amendment for the employment of people with disabilities of working age.