Few studies have examined the implementation of family preservation and reunification programs. Meeting this gap, a research project examined Israel’s innovative pilot program Families on the Growth Track (FGT). The two-year program was designed to promote the government’s policy of ensuring a permanent and nurturing family for every child by targeting families with difficulties in parental functioning, with children aged 6–18 living in or outside the parental home. The program is informed by existing family preservation models, andits leading paradigm is poverty-aware social work. The present study focused on the perceptions of professionals and participating parents regarding the program. It used semi-structured interviews with four policymakers and eight parents, as well as thirteen professionals. Additional data were collected online from 100 relevant professionals in all welfare departments participating in the pilot. According to the program social workers (PSWs), families suitable for the program were motivated to change and able to benefit from help. The parents were highly satisfied with the availability of the PSW and warm relationship with her, her work on rights take-up, and interservice coordination. They were also satisfied with the flexible budget enabling them to receive tailored wraparound services, combining concrete assistance with psychosocial treatment. Nevertheless, the PSWs experienced their role as more difficult and less rewarding than that of ordinary family social workers, which was given as explanation for their high turnover. Finally, both parents and professionals felt the program’s duration was insufficient. Implications for future research and practice are suggested.

中文翻译：

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“福利曾经意味着黑暗——现在它闪烁着光明”：专业人士和家长对以色列家庭保护计划的看法

很少有研究考察家庭保护和团聚计划的实施情况。为了弥补这一差距，一项研究项目审查了以色列的创新试点计划“成长轨道上的家庭”(FGT)。这项为期两年的计划旨在推广政府的政策，以确保每个孩子都有一个永久的、养育家庭的政策，目标对象是有父母功能困难的家庭，即居住在父母家中或父母家外的 6 至 18 岁儿童。该计划以现有的家庭保护模式为基础，其主导范式是具有贫困意识的社会工作。本研究重点关注专业人士和参与家长对该计划的看法。它对四位政策制定者、八位家长以及十三位专业人士进行了半结构化访谈。其他数据是从参与试点的所有福利部门的 100 名相关专业人员在线收集的。根据该计划的社会工作者 (PSW) 的说法，适合该计划的家庭有动力做出改变，并能够从帮助中受益。家长们对 PSW 的可用性、与她的友好关系、她在权利获取和跨服务协调方面的工作非常满意。他们还对灵活的预算感到满意，使他们能够获得量身定制的全方位服务，将具体援助与心理社会治疗相结合。然而，与普通家庭社会工作者相比，公共社会工作者的工作难度更大，回报也更少，这也是他们高流动率的原因。最后，家长和专业人士都认为该计划的持续时间不够。提出了对未来研究和实践的启示。