After nearly a year of deliberations, the representatives of
the Labor and Welfare Ministry, the Income Tax Department and
the National Insurance (Bituach Leumi) informed the Knesset's
Labor and Welfare Committee of the following arrangement,
meant to ease the situations of foster families.
The entire amount which foster families receive from the
Labor and Welfare Ministry will be regarded as a refund of
expenses, and as a result, taxes will not be deducted from
it. Until now, the Finance Ministry opposed this arrangement.
But after its representatives saw that foster family care
isn't only better than that of a dormitory framework, but
also cheaper, its representatives agreed to the
arrangement.
Until this arrangement, the foster families were forced to
pay 205 shekel in tax (and more) out of the 1560 shekels
which they received for the care of each child. They were
also obligated to open a file in the Bituach Leumi as
independent businessmen and many were deterred by these
requirements. Bituach Leumi agreed to recognize them as
volunteers for the purpose of the insurance, and exempted
them from this obligation.
In Israel, there are currently 1300 foster families who care
for 2000 children whose parents are incapable of caring for
them for short periods or long terms, but still maintain
contact with them. The Child Care Service of the Labor and
Welfare Ministry says that there is an urgent need to find
families for 2000 more children, and it is hoped that the new
agreement will persuade more families to take in such
children.
