Describes and analyzes changes in career patterns of residential child care workers in Israel during the last 50 years. Argues that present low status of child care work in Israel is related to: (1) changing social mandate of residential care and changing kinds of clients in system: and (2) lack of fit between existing needs and models of…

Presents a brief overview of the development of Israel's heavy dependency on residential placement for child welfare. Recent trends reflect heavier reliance on community-based servcies for disadvantaged youth, but efforts to coordinate and improve such services are only beginning. (KH)

Examines the historical processes which led to the institutionalization of residential care for children in Israel. The utopian "children's villages" of the 1920's were eventually taken over by a process of mass institutionalization and bureaucratic inflexibility, but the ideological commitment to collective group care has remained…

Discusses highlights and implications of special theme issue on residential child care in Israel. Focuses on residential care and national development; the residential setting and the community; residential group care and the family; the group and the family in group care; group care personnel; and residential center clientele. (KH)