FAQ about Orr Shalom

What's the difference between adoption and foster?
Foster care is designed to be a temporary solution for children-at-risk until their biological parents are able to care for them properly or until a decision is reached about a permanent home for a child. One of the tasks of a foster parent is to help the foster child maintain the relationship with his/her biological family. When you are a foster parent, you receive a state stipend to help with the cost of clothes, food and school supplies. In contrast, adoption is designed to be permanent and you become child's new parents. When you adopt, you take full financial responsibility for the child, and the relationship with the social services is reduced to a bare minimum, if at all.

Why are children removed from their homes?
Children are removed from their homes by the welfare services as a last resort. This normally follows a sustained period of abuse or neglect. Children are removed as a final option when all other options have been exhausted, or when a child's life is in immediate danger.

Does Orr Shalom decide to remove the children from their homes?
Orr Shalom plays no role in the decision to remove at-risk children from their homes. This is done by the welfare services, who may then place a child in an Orr Shalom framework. Orr Shalom is responsible from the children from the point they are placed in our care.

What is preferable about a family-based model of care?
Orr Shalom's children have had their faith in family life destroyed by the traumatic experiences they have undergone. By giving them the experience of a warm and loving home, we are able to demonstrate that a stable family unit can be a viable option for them. 

What happens to the children reach the age of 18?
If possible, the children return to their biological families. If not, they begin living in Orr Shalom's special home for graduates. We continue offering support, advising them throughout their army service and studies, in preparation for their career.

What do the children do during the holidays?
Orr Shalom therapeutic family group homes close for Sukkot, Chanukah, Pesach and during August to give House Parents and professional staff a short but critical break from their demanding responsibilities, and to enable them to attend training seminars and renovate homes. Where possible Orr Shalom children visit their biological or extended families during these times.
However, many of these children are either orphans with no family at all or they come from domestic situations that are so violent, abusive or dysfunctional that it is impossible for them to go home.  To ensure that they remain in a safe, caring and educational framework and do not regress to past destructive behaviors, Orr Shalom runs a successful residential camp in Yemin Orde Youth Village.

What is the children's relationship with their biological families?
Orr Shalom's foster parents give loving care to their foster children, while at the same time maintaining the connection between the child and his/her biological parents where possible. We believe that maintaining this connection is necessary for the emotional well-being of the child, and that it has an important influence on the child's identity and sense of belonging. For this reason, we work to establish cooperative relationships between the biological parents and the foster parents, with support from Orr Shalom and the biological family's social worker.

How is Orr Shalom funded?
The Ministry of Welfare funds approximately 80% only of the mandated basic basket of services that we need to provide the children. We supplement this basic basket to make an impact on the children's lives. We rely on private donations to provide the full necessary basket of services.

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