The Forum of Community Child Development Departments

Research shows that the period of time in which children breastfeed (from birth to three years of age) and begin preschool (ages three to six) is so critical that has a far-reaching effect on the rest of a person’s life. Consequently, local authorities and philanthropic organizations have begun to recognize the importance of early childhood care and have been working together to establish departments to that end. These departments consist of staff whose job it is to detect any issues requiring special attention among young children.

Each department functions independently and handles its own professional and budgetary issues. However, the departments still depend on the philanthropic organizations as they would not be able to survive financially for long without private support. The State of Israel has only taken minimal responsibility for the management of these departments through the HMOs, supervising them through the Health Ministry.