Minister of Social Affairs Yaakov Margi arrived for a professional tour of the city of Elad, as the guest of Mayor Yehuda Butbul. During the tour, the minister emphasized his ministry's commitment to promoting social services in the city.
During the visit, Minister Margi announced the establishment of a new campus for the Welfare and Social Services Department, which will cover 1,500 square meters. In his announcement, the Minister emphasized: "The Welfare and Social Services Departments are the central executive arm of the Ministry of Welfare, and we are paying full attention to them.".
""We believe that the departments' work environment should be at the level of high-tech offices," emphasized Minister Rabbi Margi during his visit to the Welfare Department where he opened the tour. "This will enable a good and pleasant work environment for the department's staff and the provision of respectful and high-quality service to residents.".
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The new building will include spacious and well-equipped treatment rooms, comfortable waiting areas, and advanced technological systems.
During the professional tour, which was conducted with the mayor's accompaniment and with the participation of senior municipal officials, including deputy mayors, members of the city council, the city's CEO and treasurer, directors of the Welfare and Youth Division, alongside senior officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs, including the ministry's deputy director general, Rabbi Moshe Lavon, the minister revealed the new concept: "The work environment of the departments should be no less than the offices of high-tech companies." According to him, "it is not possible for a social worker to work in a small room measuring 1.60 meters by 1.80 meters with plaster partitions.".
As part of the visit, Minister Margi held a working meeting in the City Council plenary with the mayor and senior municipal officials, with the aim of discussing the promotion of welfare services and the needs arising from the field. During the meeting, Minister Margi said: "If there is a need for special attention to Elad, beyond the formula - because of the uniqueness of the city of Elad as an ultra-Orthodox city, we will break through the wall, make the bureaucracy flexible and adapt the responses to the population.".
Mayor Botbul presented the challenging reality in the city to the minister: "We are called Socio-Economic Cluster 2, but in the past two years, 501,300 of the city's elderly homes have passed through this wing." He praised the wing's staff: "Thank God, I must say that there are real angels working here, they work and help with all their hearts, despite the difficult conditions, in an extraordinary way.".
During the work meeting, Minister Margi announced a series of additional benefits for social welfare workers, including a designated salary increase of NIS 30 million at the national level. In addition, a plan was announced to ease the workload by adding administrative workers and social worker supporters, which will allow social workers to focus on the core of their therapeutic work.
Minister Margi also announced a significant increase in the number of families in the food security project, which will grow from 700 families to approximately 1,200 needy families who will receive a 350 NIS reloadable food card and a 350 NIS basket of fruits and vegetables delivered to their homes every month, as well as a close monitoring process to maximize their rights and escape the cycle of poverty.
Another significant piece of news presented by the minister concerns relief in financing the construction of welfare departments for authorities in a low socio-economic cluster like Elad. The minister announced that the local authority will be required to contribute only 51% of the project costs, instead of 25% as was customary in the past. Minister Margi emphasized the budgetary commitment: "If we once talked about assistance from the ministry of 1 million NIS per department, we have increased the budget to 100 million NIS per year, so that each authority can receive up to 5 million NIS.".
The mayor thanked Minister Margi for the news and added that the municipality's professional teams have already begun working on a plan for the construction of the new, spacious wing, with the goal being: "Every resident of the city who needs welfare services will feel comfortable coming to the wing and will receive assistance and treatment in a dignified manner.".
In addition, Minister Margi presented an innovative plan to improve workers' conditions: "We are now developing a model of social work treatment hours. A social worker will be able to improve her salary by providing private treatments and thus have additional compensation." According to him, the plan focuses on three main parameters: "relief in workloads, the work environment, and a decent salary.".
At the end of the tour, the Deputy District Administrator and the Director of the Welfare Department expressed their deep gratitude to the city administration and its head for their in-depth understanding of the needs of the residents and for the fruitful cooperation, which allows for an appropriate response to the city's unique needs.
Minister Margi said in conclusion of the visit: "I am happy to see that the mayor and the city administration are committed and attentive to welfare needs. I was able to see a strong welfare department with dedicated and professional employees. And this is very important! A strong and professional welfare department - this is social resilience for the city's residents. The Ministry of Welfare will continue to stand by the city of Elad. We will translate this visit into work plans and together with the mayor we will move the welfare services in Elad forward.".
The mayor thanked Minister Margi for the visit to the city and the good news he brought with him: "I thank Minister Margi for the professional tour and the good news he brought with him for the welfare of the residents of the city of Elad. Already on the tour that Minister Margi made in Elad before the elections, he arrived at the welfare department and saw the conditions of the department and said that it was impossible for the employees to work in such conditions and pledged that he would work to transfer a respectable budget for the construction of a new, large and spacious department. The truth is that I thought that this was a period before elections, when ministers come and talk. But to the praise of Minister Rabbi Yaakov Margi - he says little and does a lot. He is a social man of the first rank who works hard and diligently for the welfare of the citizens of Israel, the right man in the right place.".
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