&##9;Many of Israel's voluntary organizations operate in areas related to children and youth, though only a limited number focus exclusively in this area. Women's organizations are extremely active in service provision in several areas of child welfare. There are several such organizations in Israel, the largest being WIZO, Na'amat, and Emuna. These organizations are affiliated with political parties and were initially founded to offer support to the women affiliated with those parties. The political parties continue to use their influence to help secure governmental funding for these organizations' activities. Women's organizations are the major providers of day care for children ages 0-3; they also operate afternoon frameworks, vocational schools, boarding schools, and residential facilities. Women's organizations also operate services for women, some of which are related to the welfare of children such as programs for single mothers and shelters for battered women. More recently, a number of similar organizations have developed in the Arab sector, such as the Acre Women's Association.

&##9;One of the most important voluntary organizations working with children and youth is the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential/the Hadassah Wizo Canada Research Institute. This center applies unique diagnostic and rehabilitation approaches to a broad range of disadvantaged children and youth and uses them in a variety of formal and informal educational and social frameworks.

&##9;Youth Aliya has pioneered the development of residential frameworks for children and youth in Israel, beginning with the massive number of orphans that began arriving in Israel in the 1940s and 1950s and continuing with other disadvantaged groups and special immigrant groups such as the Ethiopians.

&##9;The Histadrut has played a significant role in social programs, particularly for youth, with various networks of vocational programs in schools (Amal, Mishlav) as well as a special youth movement that is particularly committed to Arab and disadvantaged youth.

&##9;ORT is Israel's largest voluntary network of schools, with a particular specialization in vocational training programs, providing both highly advanced technological training and programs adapted for disadvantaged groups and dropouts.

&##9;The Israel Association for Community Centers is an important example of a major national organization that coordinates and advocates on behalf of a large number of local organizations.

&##9;JDC-Israel, which is the Israeli branch of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, began in the 1980s to expand its involvement in planning, developing and disseminating programs for children and youth in both the Jewish and the Arab sectors and is a major force in influencing government programs and policies. The JDC has special programs for children who are subjected to or at risk of abuse or neglect or who live in conditions that may impede their development. It also has innovative programs both to prevent adolescents from dropping out of school and to work with difficult populations who have already dropped out. (Mifne, New Educational Environment, see Education section). In addition, JDC-Israel has been involved for many years in developing informal education frameworks for youth, working in close collaboration with the Community Center Movement. Other JDC divisions are involved in developing programs for immigrant youth, both Russian and Ethiopian.

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&##9;The National Council for the Child is an organization that operates on a national basis and is involved mainly in lobbying, advocacy, and research on all areas affecting children in Israel. The National Council has been involved in many of the recent changes in the legislation and policy concerning child welfare. It publishes an annual report, State of the Child in Israel, in partnership with JDC-Israel. This report includes statistics regarding several major areas of the well-being of children and their daily lives. In addition, the Council has an ombudsman for children and youth who receives 6,000 referrals annually. As a matter of organizational policy, the National Council does not receive government funding.

&##9;Other national voluntary organizations were founded either to provide specific services or to operate in a certain area such as services for the disabled, alienated youth, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, gifted children, etc. Most of the organizations of this type provide services and also engage in lobbying and advocacy on behalf of their target populations.

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&##9;Some of the prominent organizations of this type are: Elem, which serves youth in distress; the Council for the Child in Placement, which provides services and enrichment programs to children in residential facilities; the Israel Association for Child Protection (ELI), which provides services and counseling in cases of child abuse and neglect; Meital, which serves children who have been the victims of sexual abuse; and the Association for the Enhancement of Education, which aims to provide quality education to gifted youngsters from disadvantaged populations. In the Arab sector, voluntary organizations working on a regional or national basis include: the Trust of Programs for Early Childhood, Family and Community Education; Follow-up Committee for Arab Education, primarily an advocacy group; Insann Society for Educational Services, which runs programs such as a mobile community center for villages too small to have one of their own; the Committee for Educational Guidance, a student-based organization advocating equality in higher education; the Center for Arab Education at the University of Haifa; and the Galilee Association for Health Services Research.

&##9;Many residential facilities for children in Israel are operated by NGOs that were established solely for the operation of a residential program. Local voluntary and non-governmental organizations operate individual or clusters of educational or other social programs in various cities.