Neve Michael’s Jusidman’s Teenage Girls’ Emergency Crisis Center is the first and only of its kind in Israel. Israel’s Welfare Department refers teenage girls 13 to 18 years old, who suffer extreme mental, physical and/or sexual abuse, or who are in emotional distress.
For Revital, a 15-year-old girl, this is the ray of hope she so desperately needs. At the end of October 2009, she arrived at the doorstep of the first Teen Girls’ Crisis Center in Israel at Emunah’s Neve Michael Children’s Village. Revital was accompanied by a police officer and a social worker after being dragged from the streets of Jerusalem, where she was prostituting herself, mostly in Arab neighborhoods.
After many hours of therapy, the professional staff discovered that Revital had been sexually abused when she was 5 years old by a family member, who is now deceased. Revital’s family was not able to prevent the consequent deterioration in their only daughter’s life.
Now, they are not alone.
What your dollars can do…
• The Jusidman Teen Girls’ Crisis Center serves teenager girls nationwide from the age of 13-18 years old who have suffered mental/physical abuse or who are in emotional distress due to various causes.
• Only acute situations of teenage girls at risk are referred to the Center by the Welfare Department.
• An important component for the success of the Teenage Girls’ Crisis Center is the family intervention program.
• We expect 40-50 teenage girls annually.
• The professional staff evaluates each teenager that arrives and plans an individual treatment program for her.
• It is important to analyze the source of distress for each teenager and to reach her before she turns to substance abuse to dim the pain or decides to put an end to her own life.
• Our objective is to build self-sufficiency in the teenagers, so that they will be able to cope with life’s challenges as mentally healthy adults.
• The treatment and evaluation is performed by professional experts, psychologists and social workers.
• The anticipated timeline is flexible and dependent on a particular individual’s progress, but we expect each treatment to take from several months to approximately two years.
• The Neve Michael staff works in conjunction with the Child Welfare Department of the Ministry of Welfare.