Report: Teens released from closed institutions aren't supervised

The Social Affairs Ministry has for years been breaking the law mandating that it supervise teens released from closed institutions to which they have been committed by court order, according to the National Council for the Child (NCC).

The law states that a ministry case worker should monitor the teens for a year after their release or until they turn 21, to ensure their protection and integration in the outside world.

However, the NCC has learned that the Social Affairs Ministry does not have case workers for the more than 70 teens released from Social Affairs Ministry institutions each year. Moreover, the probation service told NCC executive director Yitzhak Kadman that such case workers are overseen by the authority for teen wards of the state, while the latter authority told him that this has been the job of the youth probation service since the 1980s.

Both these departments agree on one thing: There are no case workers for follow-ups.

Kadman wrote this week to Social Affairs Ministry Deputy Director General Menachem Vagshal, warning him of 'serious harm to the minors' and to society.

In response, the Social Affairs Ministry confirmed that the law is not being implemented. However, ministry spokesman Nahum Ido said that on Wednesday he had issued a tender for 30 additional case workers for this purpose, 15 of whom would work with teens, and Social Affairs Ministry Director General Nachum Itzkowitz would consider placing these case workers under the aegis of the youth probation service.