A joint lecture for Haruv USA and Haruv Israel
 June 9th, 20:00 pm Israel time, on Zoom

* The lecture is free of charge

For registration please click here

Lecture description: The biological family is a child’s natural environment. However, in every country in the world there are children unable to live with their biological families, and therefore may be placed in out-of-home care. This is frequently due to inadequate parental care, such as abuse and neglect. Out of home care settings mainly comprise family foster care, kinship care, residential and group care. The policies and structures of these care systems vary enormously across different countries, depending on cultural factors, social values, historical factors, resources, etc. therefore, an international comparative perspectives on the child care system could help us to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms shaping the out-of-home care system and reflect on the strengths and the weaknesses of each system. This lecture will compare the out-of-home care system for abused and neglected children in both Israel and the USA, through a joint presentation from an Israeli lecturer and an American lecturer. Each of the presenters will give us a glance into the structures and policies regarding children in care in their own home country, and will address the historical developments and current status of out-of-home care systems, as well as the main challenges of child care in both nations. This lecture is open to both Israeli and American participants.

Presenters:

Bonni Goodwin, Ok, USA
Bonni Goodwin, Ph.D., LCSW, is a Research Associate in the Center for Child Welfare Training and Simulation in the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work at the University of Oklahoma. Beginning in August of 2022, Bonni will be appointed to the Assistant Professor of Macro Social Work at OU. She has worked in the field of Social Work for the past 20 years with children and families, empowering them to overcome challenges toward hope and stability. Bonni has worked in various positions with at-risk children and families, including juvenile justice, victim services with the court system, child welfare prevention services, and providing clinical services to children, families, and groups through an adoption-specialized counseling center. She currently serves with the Oklahoma Human Services child welfare division as the Statewide Coordinator of Adoption Preservation Services. In this role, Bonni conducts research and trains child welfare and mental health professionals on the unique and complex needs of children in foster care and those who have been adopted from state custody. Bonni’s research focus is on permanency through adoption and post-adoption support and services. She continues to examine the needs and gaps of services for children and families in post-adoption and is committed to pursuing best practices in responding to adoptive families’ needs.

Anat Zeira, Jerusalem, Israel
Anat Zeira, PhD, is Professor at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she had served as the head of the BSW program from 2004-2008. She also served as Head of Research and Evaluation at the Haruv Institute from 2011-2021, and was a member of the National Council of Social Work at the Israeli Ministry of Welfare and Social Services and chaired its Committee for Institutes and Degrees. She is a founding member of the Italian-based International Association of Outcome-Based Evaluation and Research on Family and Children’s Services (iaOBER). In addition to her academic work, Prof. Zeira currently chairs the

Coordinating Council of Faculty Associations in Israel.
Prof. Anat Zeira has been long committed to research on the evidence-base of social work practice with children at-risk and their families. In this context she conducted several collaborative research projects with the Department of Social Services in the Jerusalem Municipality. Her current research focuses on the transition to adulthood and independent living of care leavers. She has published widely in professional journals and presented numerous papers in international conferences. Through her studies and publications she emphasizes the importance of systematic monitoring and evaluation of professional practice and its dissemination in the field.