ABOUT MENIFA
ISRAELI YOUTH IN CRISIS
Official welfare statistics show that more than 400,000 children and young people in Israel are currently classified as “at-risk”, and almost half of them go untreated after suffering trauma or emotional harm. This is a crisis situation that causes dysfunction on multiple levels:
● Truancy and disconnection from social frameworks.
● Overt or hidden school dropouts (over 85,000 children are registered but not attending).
● Self-destructive behaviors such as addiction to drugs or alcohol, violence etc.
● Increasing mental vulnerability: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, suicide ideation etc.
● Lack of communication with parents, escalating to leaving home.
● Communication problems with authorities including dysfunction in the army.
THE MENIFA SOLUTION
Established in 2004, Menifa provides an address for young people suffering in situations of breakdown, trauma, dysfunction, truancy, and other at-risk scenarios. We help them to return to normal functioning, to develop, grow and reintegrate into normative community life. We do this by providing a professional rehabilitation framework that includes individual and group therapy, supporting the family unit, and creating an intensive social support framework for every individual. We also work with Israel’s health and welfare services, helping them to change their policies for dealing with young people and their challenges.
Menifa employs around 250 workers plus 500 volunteers to provide education, treatment and rehabilitation services.
THE MENIFA VISION
Menifa has pioneered a model of holistic intervention, creating motivation and the desire for growth and change, and empowering every young person to escape from their at-risk situation and return to normal functioning. We work to strengthen the healthy and functioning part of each young person, at the same time as creating a framework to treat their weakness and difficulties. We help them to strengthen their personal identity and acquire life skills, including building responsibility and trust, in order to empower them to integrate into society
MENIFA METHODOLOGY
The treatment of young people who are at-risk or dropping out of formal frameworks is multi-systemic, combining interventions with welfare agencies, the health, education, and absorption ministries, the IDF and other organizations.
Over the years, Menifa has developed a variety of solutions to deal with the individual needs of young people in crisis and distress, together with their families and the professionals who are working with them. We have created more than 800 programs around Israel, reaching every sector and embracing mixed populations, including 30,000 beneficiaries defined as impoverished and in a state of dysfunction.
Our programs are designed to create a safety net around each young person, while prioritizing the involvement of their family and community as agents of change in their lives. We champion this functional approach to rehabilitation which combines education, treatment, counseling, and financial assistance where needed, including helping them to access funding from state agencies. Our methodology has been proven with groups of disadvantaged immigrants, children and youth experiencing trauma, school dropouts, imprisoned soldiers, and other sectors. Our impact is evidenced by our partnerships with Israeli governmental organizations.
PLANS FOR THIS ACADEMIC YEAR
In 2024/5, Menifa plans to offer 21 programs for 1,630 participants nationwide.
The following programs will be delivered to communities across Israel, optimized to suit each community:
● Mentoring programs for current & future soldiers
● Mental health programs for young people
● Community & family support programs
● School dropout prevention & recovery programs
● Resilience & empowerment programs for war victims
● Treatment, advice and mentoring for parents & teachers
THE MENIFA PHILOSOPHY
We believe in the willpower of every individual and their ability to develop the tools and the motivation for self-improvement. Our professional teams work together with each of our beneficiaries to help them break out of their cycle of crisis and distress. Our programs emphasize the importance of finding meaning, hope and faith, and in our ability to find strength through our challenges. As part of this philosophy, we also work to change popular misconceptions, to raise public awareness, and to change government policies that hold people back.
MENIFA PROGRAM EVALUATION
We monitor all of our programs, evaluating their short-term and long-term impact. Feedback consistently shows that we are making a real difference. Menifa graduates are successfully integrating into civil society, playing significant roles in the IDF and in National Service positions, and finding good jobs. Most of them attain optimal functioning in terms of their mental health, and 90% are integrated into normative communities and are fully functioning.
Read our articles & studies (in Hebrew)
MENIFA FINANCES
Our annual budget is based on the partnerships that we have built with various government ministries, donors, business and philanthropic foundations, in Israel and around the world. We “sell” our services to national and local government agencies. We are committed to professional financial management, and we are in constant dialog and ongoing partnership with all these organizations, in order to provide dependable treatment and support to young people in distress.
