The Labor and Welfare Committee held a discussion on rent assistance for individuals with mental health challenges living in apartments owned by family members. At the beginning of the discussion, committee chair MK Michal Waldiger said: “Individuals with mental health challenges are a unique population when it comes to housing and the ability to rent an apartment. In many cases, the onset occurs at a young age when these individuals have not yet established themselves as heads of households, they struggle to make a living, and of course, there is the struggle with the illness itself. In addition to this, there is the terrible stigma in the public, which does not know how to distinguish between different illnesses and conditions and often hesitates to rent apartments to those with challenges. Therefore, the option of living in a family-owned apartment is good and sometimes even the only one available to the individual as an alternative to a hostel or institution. Absurdly, it is precisely here that the state ‘punishes’ the eligible person and their family and denies them assistance, which is already low, certainly much lower than the cost of treating that individual if they were in state-run housing facilities. This is an injustice that cannot be accepted, and I demand a clear response and the promotion of solutions from the government ministries as soon as possible.”
Ran Melamed, of the Turning Point Association: “In 2004, we filed a High Court petition on the matter following a young woman, an individual with mental health challenges, who tried to rent an apartment in the south and failed because no one was willing to rent to her. The family wanted to allow her to live in a unit they owned, but they had to forgo the rent, and as a low-income family, they struggled to subsist and help her. The ministry of Housing understood then that it was unequal, and the procedures were changed. We thought everything was fine, but in recent weeks, I have received 4 cases from all over the country of eligible individuals who were told again that they would not be able to receive assistance if they rented apartments from family members.”
Participants in the discussion also noted that the amount of assistance provided by the Ministry of Housing is only about NIS 770 for an individual and about NIS 1,200 for a couple. A representative of the Ministry of Health noted that the ministry adds NIS 230 for those in supported housing and NIS 100 for those in hostels. It was also noted that the amount has not been updated for many years, which has led to a erosion in its ability to significantly assist in funding independent housing for eligible individuals.
Nili Aaronov, an activist with the Mental Health Families Association and mother of an individual with mental health challenges in his 50s, said: “My son lived for a period in a rented apartment and was evicted when he was going through a difficult time. We didn’t want him to be moved from apartment to apartment, which would lead him to relapse and hospitalization again. We felt he needed a strong support system and to be close to us. Fortunately, we were able to buy him an apartment nearby that would allow him stability and support, which are very important for someone with mental health challenges, and as a result, we lost the assistance from the state.”
Moshe Zaretzky: “My wife and I are both defined as individuals with mental health challenges. About two years ago, an incident forced us to evict a tenant from a unit we owned and to house a relative of ours, also an individual with mental health challenges, because he had nowhere else to go. Before that, we received NIS 2,850 per month for her, and even though he meets all the criteria for assistance, he was not even approved for the NIS 750 per month assistance. I then approached the minister in office and asked why. The answer I received was that the state cannot enforce and know if we are ‘scheming,’ ‘We don’t trust you.’ Would I scheme and lose over NIS 2,000?’” In response to these remarks, he said: “Precisely because of these situations where procedures do not meet common sense, parents of individuals with mental health challenges cannot realize their rights without ‘scheming,’ and if you are not a millionaire, you will end up collapsing along with the struggling child and all the other children who will also become needy because no one is helping them. You live in a delusional world, you don’t know the field, and you see everything through a narrow lens.”
Efraim Vakshtok, Director of Housing Assistance at the Ministry of Housing, said: “Following the petition, we introduced an option to examine the possibility of receiving assistance for eligible individuals even when living in a family-owned apartment. This is being examined by an exceptions committee, and the directive is to consider approving it favorably. If there are cases where officials give a negative response to eligible individuals without informing them and referring them to an exceptions committee – this is not proper, and we request to receive those cases and handle them.” In response to these remarks, Committee Chair MK Waldiger said: “I am happy to hear that the option exists, but in my opinion, it should not require an exceptions committee but should be the default. There is no logic in denying assistance to these people, and I demand that a solution be promoted that will regulate this permanently and leave no room for interpretation or discretion of any official who decides whether to forward it to an exceptions committee or not.”
A representative of the Ministry of Finance at the discussion noted that the area is the responsibility of the Ministry of Housing and that the ministry’s budgets are allocated according to the priorities determined by it.
At the end of the discussion, MK Waldiger demanded that the Ministries of Housing, Health, Finance, and the Commissioner for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Ministry of Justice hold a joint meeting as soon as possible to examine solutions to the issue. She also requested to receive data on exceptions committees that have discussed cases of individuals with mental health challenges who requested to live in a home owned by their family, and a breakdown of the committee’s decisions.