By Anat Zeira
The Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jeruslaem
Aya Ben-Harush
The Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jeruslaem
Over the last decade Israel has experienced a high growth in poverty levels. As a result, the local departments of social services (DSS), which are the major public service offered by the state to populations in distress, have been required to develop new intervention strategies to support the growing numbers of poor people. One such initiative is the Support Centers that were developed by the DSS in the Jerusalem municipality. The centers operate within local neighborhood agencies in order to provide immediate response t o concrete needs. A strong component of client participation is employed in order to enhance provision of personal, group, and community responses.
Four support centers in Jerusalem are the focus of this study. Data included interviews with 168 clients as well as clients' records. Results show that the vast majority of applications pertained to financial support but the centers were able to respond to only some of these needs. Notwithstanding, clients showed both appreciation of the centers' efforts and understanding of the national circumstances that caused this situation. While this initiative has some positive aspects related to client participation in social services, the new service is unable to resolve deeper problems of poverty.