Close to the inauguration of the campus in 2017, a network of clinics was opened, whose goal is to provide service to children who are treated by the various organizations on campus, as well as to develop guidelines for intervention in every field – to help create sub-specializations in caring for maltreated children. During 2018, the clinics’ activities continued to establish themselves and expand – through the occupational therapy clinic, the psychiatric clinic, and the dental clinic in collaboration with the dental clinic at Hadassah Mt. Scopus. The end of 2018 saw the start of the establishment of the inter-disciplinary neuro-developmental clinic which, initially, will include a neurological clinic, psychiatry, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Additional clinics will open in the future. These clinics are turning part of the campus’s vision into reality – to develop sub-specializations in the treatment of child victims of abuse and neglect.

The Occupational Therapy Clinic

In 2018 the occupational therapy clinic operated along several lines:

•  Providing treatment – Individual treatment was given to about twenty children and group therapy was given to another fifty children. Consultation and supervision were offered along with joint ‘think tanks’ with staff members from the organizations on campus, in regard to additional children.
•  Based on the clinical experience gained at the clinic, along with an extensive review of professional literature and in collaboration with the School of Occupational Therapy at the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital, an intervention protocol of occupational therapy was created and will be implemented as a pilot project in 2019.
•  Training – Integrating six students of occupational therapy in the work of the clinic, as part of their practicum.

We invite you to watch the short video (2:52 minutes) about the work being done at the occupational therapy clinic at the Haruv Campus for Children:

The Psychiatric Clinic

The clinic’s activities included:

• Providing consultation and treatment on a weekly basis at the Schusterman Emergency Center, at the internal unit for children in full residential care. Many of these children require psychiatric evaluation and/or medication supervision. Additionally, psychiatric reports need to be written for the “Treatment Planning Committees”, the courts and other frameworks.
• Psychiatric consultation as requested, for children receiving the services of other organizations on campus.

Within the framework of the above two activities, a total of six children were usually seen every week.

• A joint discussion at the staff meetings of the organizations on campus. In specific cases of a child or a fundamental issue that contained psychopathological aspects, the staff invited the psychiatrist to the meeting.

From all of the above, information is gathered is relevant to special aspects of psychopathology manifested in maltreated children. This information will serve as the basis for unifying special protocols for the evaluation and intervention in such cases.

The Dental Clinic

The clinic was active along several channels:

• Dentists at the clinic studied the full complexities of providing care for maltreated children,
• Complex treatment solutions were given in the field of dentistry to children at the Schusterman Emergency Center.
• The clinic was a partner in planning and implementing a conference on the subject of dental care for maltreated children. The conference addressed the issues of detecting and identifying maltreated children, and adapting dental treatment to children who experienced trauma.