Welfare Issues in Jerusalem ELIEZER D. JAFFE, D.S.W.* Senior Lecturer in Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel ]%/FANY friends and colleagues from In the great rush to build the city abroad have inquired with concern anew, however, the accent has consist­ about "the welfare situation in Jeru­ ently been on physical, structural salem." Some of this concern stems change, and the considerations for this from articles in the foreign press, but have been political and economic, but anyone with fairly well-trained eyes and rarely social. Behind all the mortar and ears becomes aware after even a short bricks and bulldozing that are today visit that new problems have arisen and rapidly changing the face of our city, unattended old ones have reappeared only a few people have paused to con­ with vengeance. Perhaps the relatively sider the social and human consequences slow pace of providing that attention has of all this frenzied activity, not on the turned Jerusalem into one of the socially newcomers, but on the old-timers—those turbulent and potentially explosive people who, for over 20 years, took part towns in Israel. This article relates to in our wars, remained crowded in their some of the welfare problems which are old-new neighborhoods, and hoped for seriously neglected and a number of the progress and change to come- finally to background issues involved. The latter them also. part of the article highlights the partic­ The poor of Jerusalem make up more ularly severe situation of the chroni­ than 16 percent of its population, many cally ill in Jerusalem. of them Sephardim, and primarily from Jerusalem has changed overnight. large families. Relatively little system­ From a small, socially intimate little atic thought has been spent on facilities town before the Six-day War, it has for the aged, the ill, the handicapped, the sprouted entirely new neighborhoods di­ street-corner children and the delin­ rectly opposite the poorer areas: in quents who live in the city. Approxi­ Ramat Eshkol across from Shmuel Ha- mately 40 percent of the families receiv­ navi, San Martin and St. Simon near ing help from the Welfare Department Katamon, the Rechov Stern area across in Jerusalem are working poor, for whom from the "asbestonim" in Kiryat Yovel, the father's income is so low that he and the Wolfson towers just behind the cannot make ends meet. Another 40 old Nachlaot. The population has grown percent of welfare clients are the aged, to over 300,000, many of them new­ and another 15 percent are handicapped comers to the city. One-third of the physically or mentally. What does the city's population is Moslem, and perhaps newly developed Master Plan of Jeru­ the relatively quiet unification of Arab salem say for these citizens? and Jewish Jerusalem has been the most significant single achievement to date. Social Planning Neglected The sad fact is that there is no Master Plan at all for welfare. This subject * Dr. Jaffe was formerly director of the Depart­ ment of Family and Community Services of takes last place on the scale of priorities Jerusalem. for the planning of the city and because 290 JOURNAL OF JEWISH COMMUNAL SERVICE of the political unsophistication of the for the governments. The same market­ needy (so far), social workers have carried place situation is the rule for work con­ most of the burden for presenting the ditions of social workers; the Ministry case of the poor. Unfortunately, it took of Welfare has never published publicly the Black Panthers to bring some glim­ work norms for welfare personnel, as mer of local understanding that our so­ exist for all other civil service employees cial problems, when left to fester, en­ such as teachers, doctors, and even clean­ danger everyone and that our national ing women in municipal services. The battlefronts today are not only located Jerusalem municipality recently refused on the Canal and on the Golan Heights, outright even to discuss the principle of but in the streets of Katamon, Musrara, caseload norms for its social workers and and Hatikva as well. Over 60 percent of as a result the average case load in Jeru­ the 130,000 families receiving welfare salem is 274 families per social worker! help in Israel live in 11 cities; it is No wonder the tremendous turnover of basically an urban problem. staff, nearly 60 percent per year for fam­ Over 22,000 children in Jerusalem are ily and child welfare workers. in need of help of one kind or another Arbitrary welfare budgets and large from the city's welfare offices. Over 1,000 caseload size are not the only problems. need placement away from home, but less The city has not really begun to under­ than 600 receive such help. Only 30 of stand the type of network of social ser­ the 107 public schools in Jerusalem have vices needed in order to keep pace with social workers (and those part-time), population growth and the social prob­ while the funds at their disposal for lems existing today and growing steadily. basic work with families are negligible, For example, there are woefully inade­ about one-third of what is needed. Ex­ quate quotas regarding the number of penses for school books, school uniforms, children's day-care placements, institu­ bus-fare across town, school meals, and tion and foster care placements for chil­ school outings for children of the poor dren, placements of the well-aged in in­ are doled out by welfare workers, who, stitutions, and placements for retarded according to regulations of the City and children. These quotas are arbitrarily the Ministry of Social Welfare, are re­ arrived at by the Ministry of Welfare quired to use their personal "judgement" and exploited by municipalities; and the to decide how much and to whom to give social worker, in the absence of clear the aid. "Judgement" is a device that has policy criteria, continues to serve as been forced on social workers in order to shock-absorber between clients and local enable municipalities to reach the end of government. There is absolutely no ex­ the fiscal year on inadequate and arbi­ cuse morally for a quota system where trary welfare budgets. Any attempts at medical services for the ill, for example, formulating clear criteria for eligibility are concerned. It is also hard to justify for welfare services have been rejected by the fact that quotas prevent over 1,000 the national government and municipali­ children from poor families in Jerusalem ties because they would automatically re­ from attending day-care centers in Jeru­ quire budgeting of funds to back up salem this year. those criteria. Increased welfare spend­ ing is not done gracefully since welfare is often not considered a good human in­ Prostitution by Teen-Agers vestment, and government tends to let The number of teen-age girls involved social workers serve as shock-absorbers in prostitution in Jerusalem has increased 291 WELFARE ISSUES IN JERUSALEM dramatically since before the Six-day Housing for large families, young War. From 60 teen-agers known to the couples, and the elderly is a particularly city's welfare workers in 1966 the number acute problem in Jerusalem, yet there is is now over 300. Jerusalem has become no single address in the municipality for a booming tourist town, and young girls this crucial need. Community organiza­ from large, low-income, overcrowded tion workers and other city welfare work­ Sephardic homes earn quick money and ers became involved to fill the void, but emotional release through prostitution. there is a need for a special unit to fill Although there is obvious need for a this function. So long as residents have hostel for girls who want to quit prosti­ faith in local government they turn to tution: a closed observation center, a municipal officials first and foremost in decent shelter and job subsidies for these times of distress, and the municipality girls, the Jerusalem municipality has not has been consistently referring them over begun to meet the problem head-on, to the national ministries and shrugging despite there being at hand highly moti­ its shoulders, because it doesn't want to vated social work staff willing to do the develop welfare into a municipal issue job if given the tools. The Jerusalem and major contender for municipal bud­ Foundation, a philanthropic reservoir of get. But, like it or not, with over 50,000 the municipality, has not yet given one citizens coming to its welfare offices, with agora for projects of this kind, and has the old-timer immigrants seething over concentrated on the "more productive" the new buildings going up all around segments of youth in the city, on under- them, and with a heightened Sephardi equipped pocket-size parks, and other ser­ sense of the income and opportunity gap vices to "non-residuals." —welfare is indeed a major issue. The Many retarded children are in need of 1972-3 year's welfare budget for Jeru- community services which are costly and selem (IL.15.1 million) was about equal cannot be funded by the already over­ to the previous year's actual expenditures taxed volunteer parents' organizations. (IL.14.9 million), with rising costs (15-20 Jerusalem needs an institution for re­ percent) already resulting in a deficit. tarded children who often wait up to The 1973-1974 budget is IL.6 million three years for placement and a larger less than requested. And this, despite sheltered workshop for less severely re­ an increase in the Ministry of Welfare's tarded children.