Parents wept in the discussion: "Bnei Brak municipality affects children for interest"

Not every day comes a group of parents of special needs children to court to sue the city of Bnei Brak. This week it happened: Three out of 13 children organized and filed a petition, after receiving a permit from a well known dayan in Bnei Brak. Other parents joined the petition wholeheartedly; some even came to court for the first hearing held this week.

The beginning of the act: Decision of the Bnei Brak municipality, to transfer a group of children with moderate mental retardation from the Ezer Mezion institution to Aleh. Parents rushed to protest against the transfer, and struggled in the last month with the meager means at their disposal against the decision. According to them, in Ezer Mezion the children are catered for well and with quality, while at Aleh, the ratio falls and the children studying there are not happy.

Last night a parent came to me and talked about it whilst tears spilled from the eyes of mothers who attended the hearing and great heartache.
I went to Bnei Brak Municipality and received clarification during the night, which was a meeting in the office of Mayor Avraham Rubinstein and managed to reach an agreement with the parents.

I turned again to parents, and I heard that three parents have received a response and their children were enrolled in the institution they wanted – Ezer Mezion, but the rest are still not enrolled in the preferred place for them. According to the parents none serious reasons brought to these children's enrollment, whilst the rest of the children were not treated.

Harm to special needs children for personal interests?

In a conversation with one of the parents he explains the problem created.

"There are two types of day cares, one of Aleh, and second, Ezer Mezion. In תשע"ג children with moderate mental retardation level, learned at Ezer Mezion institutions. This is rehabilitative day care centers for children aged 2-3 whom are the responsibility of the municipality. For next year parents were hoping to continue in Ezer Mezion, this time in kindergarten, not daycare, under the compulsory education law, while the municipality is the one who enrolls.

"But that is not what the municipality supervisor decided on the subject, who transferred the children with mental medium retardation to Aleh, and only the mild mental retardation - left in Ezer Mezion. Parents are convinced that beyond consideration was the fact that the budget received for the children with moderate mental retardation is higher budget than for mild retardation, and they think the reason is the relationship of some institutions managers with the municipality. Municipal of course deny outright the claim, and emphasize that the decision of the Supervisory Board was received for professional reasons.

"How professional considerations? If the Supervisory Board, at a meeting with the municipality, she admitted that she did not bother to go and check the quality of institutions, because she knew always that Ezer Mezion is dealing with medical equipment and ambulances and not those in education?" – Wondered a parent I spoke with.

According to the parents, "The 'compromise' existing mentioned in the petition that Ezer Mezion receives the children of the mild retardation only, not only that it isn't true (there are at least three children with moderate retardation that the municipality turned to Ezer Mezion, due to personal relationships) but does not do justice to parents and moderate retardation children who want and deserve an alternative and not to be prisoners in an institution in which they are not interested in.

Last night after a meeting at the mayor's office, I returned and I spoke with one of the parents. According to him, apart from three parents arranged according to their will, all else weep bitterly over their children as not letting them grow where they really want. "They will meet with the municipal court."If you see a line of mothers sit and cry, and the pain of unimaginable quantities of families who face a special needs child and not realize why harm the future of children for narrow considerations, you would understand the distress" he concludes in pain.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!