OUR
BOTTOM LINE
IS impact

Carefully designed surveys that identify not only those who have been harmed, but also those who are at risk, either financially or mentally. A study on families in financial distress and Israel’s “new poor” was conducted for the Latet organization, and two measurements of the Crisis’ impact on senior citizens were performed for JDC-Eshel.

For the past 5 years, we have been carrying out a formative evaluation of the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Services’ “Breathing Easy” program, in collaboration with the JDC-Ashalim and the Rashi Foundation. The program’s target audience consists of about 6,000 families who receive high-intensity intervention, including a flexible basket of responses and holistic individual mentoring. In the accompanying study, we examine how the program has affected the families participating in it and what perceptual and systemic change it has created. In particular, we examine aspects of the program’s sustainability and its effects on various target audiences, such as young people and families of soldiers

Evidence-based decision-making tool to support investment planning and intervention design, using cutting-edge methods, including machine learning and network analysis. Produced for the Rashi Foundation, the JDC, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Welfare and the Jindas organization.

Data-driven international comparisons and using complex system analysis, we created a knowledge-map that outlines the way forward for Israeli municipalities. Produced for the Ministry of Interior and the Maoz organization to support a national training program for change leaders in local governments, called “Makom”

Economic abstractions – designed for the Israeli National Insurance Institute and building on our widely known alternative poverty index published yearly with the Latet Organization.

Supporting a collective impact of 5 ministries, 9 municipalities and about a dozen NGOs, backboned by JDC-Ashalim for the promotion of early childhood development in the Bedouin society. Providing context-specific knowledge to establish joint goals and objectives, determine evidence-based action plans and design common and agreed-upon measurements.

Based on an extensive review of international literature, consultations with experts and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education staff, we have formulated definitions, core competencies and development stages for each of the 13 skills that the Ministry of Education has decided to promote as part of the “2030 Graduate” strategy. The project, which was carried out for the Ministry of Education’s Planning and Strategy Department and the Pedagogical Secretariat, serves as the basis for the advancement of policy and to build a pedagogical program for the practical development of skills

In a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) we conducted in conjunction with Latet organization, we were able to alleviate hunger for more than half of the families who participated in the trial and improve the condition of all families who were in a state of severe food insecurity. The trial sample consisted of 130 families suffering from severe food insecurity that were randomly divided into two groups. The food security levels of both groups were measured three times during the trial year, using the USDA questionnaire.

In our work with the Israel Association of Community Centers we created a new multi-dimensional index measuring the strength and cohesion of communities. The index is based on four key factors that constitute community strength – connectedness, collective action, sense of belonging and trust. This index has been implemented in dozens of community centers and is being used to measure the promotion of community strength on a national level.

The Israeli ministry of health hired us to formulate a new policy on the standards of healthcare based on the principles of the patient-centered care. Our research helped shift the focus of the reform from mere quality of services to the very heart of effective medical care. The strategy we devised became official government policy, including a planned series of RCTs in dozens of public hospitals aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach on clinical results.

Working with 8400, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating growth in Israel through the Health-Tech sector, we used macro-economic theory and applicable international research to pinpoint the 4 critical levers that generate accelerated growth in innovation-based industries and build an evidence-based dashboard for tracking progress on each.

We conducted a re-conceptualization, analysis and characterization of the problems of young people in Israel for the Gandyr Foundation and partners, including the Youth Authority in the Ministry of Social Equality. In order to help focus and synchronize efforts in the areas related to young people, we rethought the basic assumptions in the field, identified the difficulty in understanding the problem today and proposed an alternative conceptual framework that distinguishes between three types of problems young men and women encounter in implementing initial optimal decisions in the main areas of life (education, work, identity, family and social participation).

At the request of the Israel Volunteer Council, we developed a calculator to determine the economic value of volunteers for social organizations, in a way that will allow organizations to quantify inputs and outputs in the budget and present the volunteer activity in economic terms. To this end, we identified key models from the world that calculate the economic value of volunteering, built a unique model for calculating this value and developed a detailed calculator for the use of organizations.

In an extensive study we conducted for the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Services together with JDC-Ashalim, we identified nine key resilience factors and four crisis areas. We mapped out effective interventions for the family (parents and children) that promote resilience factors in accordance with each of the crises, and we constructed a unique mapping tool for social workers to identify family resilience.

Young at-risk families have been defined as families in which at least one of the spouses is under the age of 25, as well as single-parent families, families in which the parents have no familial support or have a criminal record. For the first time in Israel, we arrived at an estimate based on computational models of the target population. We then identified the barriers unique to each family profile along with the interventions that can help to address these barriers.

This is a multidimensional index that makes it possible to examine and measure relations and partnerships between diverse cultural groups in Israeli society. The index was developed on the basis of a unique perception and language that the “Living Together” initiative developed in collaboration with activists and opinion leaders from diverse cultural groups in Israeli society. The index, which has been in use for two consecutive years, serves as a knowledge base for the initiative’s activities and for anyone seeking to create a new social partnership in Israel