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| Source: Israel Knesset |
Entitled "Children with Disabilities", the succinct survey [Hebrew] was presented in May 2019 to the Knesset Committee for the Rights of Children in advance of the start of the committee's work in the 22nd Knesset.
It originated in the Knesset's Center for Research and Information.
Despite the progress achieved in this domain by most other Western countries, the report demonstrates how Israel clings to its backward ways - ways detrimental to the population they impact - toward citizens with disabilities.
As the most vulnerable in society, they and their families passively accept whatever the "powers that be" dish up.
Often it is presented to them as "the ideal" solution. Or as the embodiment of "inclusion" in the community. Or as "a real family". Among the most brazen proponents of that injustice is the largest chain of closed institutions for people with disabilities in this state, Aleh. [Those quotes can be found here, here and here in Aleh's marketing materials.]
Referring to 2017 data, the Knesset report says 2,740 children with disabilities lived in some kind of "out-of-home" arrangement. These included hostels, apartments, foster families and assisted living.
But the vast majority of them - 1,305 - were stuck in institutions a.k.a. "dormitories". Only 646 were in foster care.
On February 12, 2020, Aleh's donors will gather in Jerusalem to celebrate the policy of separating children from their parents and locking them up in large, isolated facilites. They will hear speakers laud that living solution for those who need round-the- clock assistance. They will ignore the alternative options for care that this population is entitled to and that such families receive overseas... but that are generally still unavailable in Israel.
When will Aleh's supporters remove their blinders and face the facts? Here's hoping this year's Aleh gala will be its last.
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