Regulation of Personal Social Services – TheIsraeli Experience

Abstract

AbstractThe current article explores the aspects of regulatory policy in the field of personal social services. InIsrael, the government sets standards, and finances and oversees personal social services, while the services themselves are provided primarily by non‐governmental organizations. Based on a qualitative study we examined two questions. First, what characterizes the implementation of regulatory mechanisms in the field of personal social services inIsrael? Second, how can we explain the outcomes of regulation in the personal social services inIsrael? In a unique approach, we used the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework to explore the regulatory practices implemented in community residences and hostels for people with intellectual disabilities and in after school programmes. The findings revealed that although there were implementation gaps in both cases, theIADmight improve our understanding of the nature and magnitude of these gaps. Furthermore, the insights gained may have implications for policymakers in their development of regulatory policy.