Institutions grab headlines again

Beit Bar Dror in the Israeli news (December 9, 2022)

Naama Lerner, our local unsung hero ("A woman of valor" December 11, 2022) followed up her one-person protest with the update below. 

It's so shocking it sounds scripted. But trust me, Naama doesn't do that. (The translation from the Hebrew source on Facebook is mine.)

On Friday morning a news report was published about food poisoning at the Bar Dror institution in Kfar Saba. Thirty-six out of the one hundred residents came down with diarrhea, and some of them even had high fevers.

Does this news sound painfully familiar to you? If so, it's because a few months ago a very similar article was published about the Beit Dafna Institute. There it ended with the death of three residents. This time, miraculously, no one paid with his life.

But is this incident any less serious because of that?

A side anecdote. As you remember, last week private institutions held a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Welfare, demanding additional money and standards. Facing them the Movement for Independence placed signs intended to remind the institution managers of the incidents of neglect, abuse and death that occurred in the last year in these institutions, and of their audacity in demanding money and services.

At some point, some of the protesters began to cross the road and attempt to have a dialogue about what was written on the signs. One of the protesters introduced herself as an employee of the Bar Dror Mossad. She was angry that the signs lumped together all the institutions, and claimed that Bar Dror should not be included with the institutions where residents died due to neglect or abuse, since no untoward events had occurred there and it is exemplary..

"Our facility is different," she claimed. "It operates in an exemplary manner".

Less than a week has passed, and the news about food poisoning at the Bar Dror institution has been published. Need another explanation about the inclusion of all institutions under the same umbrella? Who is next in line?"

And now "hot off the press", an update on that update:

Sanitary deficiencies were discovered at the Bar Dror institution, a hostel for people with special needs, in Kfar Saba. The Ministry of Health today (Wednesday) issued an instruction to close the kitchen at the institution after tests of food samples revealed low levels of Clostridium bacteria and E.coli bacteria. Although these levels do not cause illness, they do indicate poor sanitary conduct of the institution." [Source: Walla (Hebrew)]

It doesn't seem like this institution will be excluded from the inclusive list of "bad entities" anytime soon.

And while we are agreeing on that generalization, note that Doron Almog's "babies" (ADI Negev and ADI Jerusalem) are two more such private, large, institutions enclosing people with disabilities from infancy to middle age. 

But that fact is carefully swept under the carpet. Instead, Almog, now head of the Jewish Agency is touted as a champion of the rights of people with disabilities. 

Here is but one example of many such distortions. Since he became chairman of the Jewish Agency, Almog has been promoting a policy of opening up the world of aliyah to all types of Jews in the Diaspora, including those will special needs. As the Jerusalem Post recently wrote: 

This topic is especially close to his heart, as the founder and chairman of the rehabilitation village "ADI Negev-Nachalat Eran" which has become a model for integrating people with disabilities. 

Which brings to mind Abraham Lincoln's words: “You can fool some of the people all the time; you can fool all the people some of the time; but, you can't fool all the people all the time.” 

Some of us are not fooled about Doron Almog.

A woman of valor

There are surely many unsung heroes among disabilities activists all over the world.

 
We are blessed with one in Israel, Adv Naama Lerner of Hatnuah L'atzmaut (The Movement for Independence): tireless, brave, determined, idealistic, compassionate, intelligent and religious - obviously a rare mix of traits. 

While she's often interviewed by journalists, and has been an activist for decades, she never toots her own horn. Which probably explains her relative anonymity.

Last week Naama exhibited unusual pluck which earned her a few kudos among activists. One person who acknowledged this was former Knesset member, Stav Shaffir. I've mentioned her here before because she organized the surprise visits paid by activists to closed institutions for people with disabilities in December 2018 in which I took part ["Making history: After the raid"].

She paired-up activists with Knesset members to enable us to gain entry to these normally locked institutions. (Note: the institutions are obligated to open their doors only to Knesset members.)

Naama Lerner protests outside Israel's

Ministry of Welfare, December 5, 2022 [Source]

Here - in my translation from the source Hebrew - is what Stav wrote about Naama on her Facebook page this past week:

I want you to meet a very brave woman: Naama Lerner. Yesterday she stood alone opposite the Ministry of Welfare in protest against the private companies that make millions at the expense of people with special needs. 

These companies receive a budget from the state in order to take care of them - but instead of paying a fair wage to the caregivers, they put the money in the management's pocket, and then come asking for more. 

The therapists get discouraged and are replaced, are usually untrained, and the treatment of a person with special needs - is accordingly. 

This year, residents in such institutions died due to food poisoning and in other unknown circumstances.
Naama stood there in front of the office alone, but she is really not alone: she stands on behalf of tens of thousands with special needs. On behalf of families who lost their children (physically or mentally) to institutions that did not treat them properly. 

I learned about her activities in depth when, as a Knesset member, I began conducting surprise visits to these institutions as a member of the Knesset - and I became a fan of her way, of her depth and endless devotion.
This year she founded the Movement for Independence which aims to promote people with special needs to independence in the community, instead of closed institutions. This is a movement in the right direction, operating with almost no resources against huge companies that make billions from the state and maintaining a strong lobby in the government. 

Let's cheer and strengthen her. She deserves it and we all deserve it.

Are we seeing a sea change?

The front gate of Neve Ram

Over the past month or so, the disability sector of Israel's population has been rocked by several cases of neglect and abuse. Tragically, a few were fatal. 

One at the start of this month involved three deaths of residents from food poisoning. 

And the most recent one - two nights ago - involved the food poisoning and hospitalization of four institutionalized people with disabilities at Neve Ram in Rechasim (near Haifa).

In the past, such events elicited some media attention, a few interviews with activists and then a return to "business as usual". But there is a sense that a sea change has finally been triggered. Protest demonstrations are growing common. Activists are being interviewed on mainstream TV and radio news programs more frequently. Some have gained access to senior politicians including the prime minister.

Hatnua's logo [source]

 
One of them, Noa Kfir Dohav, mother of a child with disabilities and founding member of HaTnua L'Atzma'ut, (in Hebrew: התנועה לעצמאות) also known as the Movement for Independence, wrote about her meeting with prime minister Naftali Bennett along with several other activists (my translation from the Hebrew source):

For an hour he was with us. Entirely interested in the personal accounts, giving respect to the youth with their disabilities and special needs. Riveted to the story Chezi tells about his brother and to the possibilities that Roni presents to him when she tells about her sister. He asks questions, conducts discussions, and delves into the most sensitive point - money - and then returns very quickly to the understanding that the current situation is bad. 'I can't imagine living even one day like this', he says when he's told about the institutions. 'And I wouldn't wish this on my children and so not on any other person", he adds at one point. He understands what we're talking about... that change must come.

A key sign of progress is the now oft-repeated demand for the closure of all institutions. 

Previously, few uttered that drastic word "closure". Criticism focused on the dire conditions in those institutions, on the need for tighter supervision, more frequent surprise inspections, higher salaries for staff and stricter vetting of potential employees.

But now, most go further. Here is what Adv Na'ama Lerner, one of the founders of Hatnua L'atzma'ut, also known as Movement for Independence, insisted after that meeting with the prime minister in which she too participated (my translation again):

"I have been in the field for 35 years and don't recall an accumulation of so many incidents that reveal the rot/decay in Israel's institutions. We need deeds. Actions. Funding that will bring the total closure of institutions and that will enable thousands of people to live with respect and independence."

The text of the Hebrew poster on the right, taken from the group's Facebook page, in my English translation: 

People with Disabilities Exit to Freedom: From Institutions to the Community
Again Food Poisoning in an Institution for People with Disabilities
This Time in Neve Ram
Only Miraculously Did it not End in Death
The Next Disaster is Written on The Wall
What Else Must Happen for the State of Israel to Close the Institutions?

It's the right question.