Doing the Job in Difficult Times: An Appreciation of the Jewish Family Service

Publication Date: January 1994

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Gail Abramson

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: Social Services; Communal Organization; Funding

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

As the approach of a new century has brought with it unparalleled social problems, the JFS has increasingly struggled in an unfriendly economic environment to maintain the positive profile it has long enjoyed. That it has been an unqualified success in this struggle frequently goes unnoticed and the very special programs it offers are often overlooked. It is time to acknowledge the distinct role this unsung agency plays in the preservation of Jewish families in this country. Recognizing the JFS is particularly important now because there is a tendency by some Jewish communities to solve their fiscal woes by eliminating, severely altering, or referring out the delivery of those social services that were once taken for granted as intrinsic to indigenous Jewish life. Jewish Family Service agencies need to become more sensitive to social, political, and economic forces.