Public Health & Medicine

Federation-supported health services to Jews and others are provided through affiliated nursing homes, family service agencies, hospitals, and assisted living facilities, all in a religiously appropriate manner. Mental health services are provided by the system include Jewish Community Centers, training centers, employment programs, and more. JFNA, representing the North American Federation system, is an advocate in Washington, D.C., and state capitals for health care services.
 

There are 396 Jewish Federation-affiliated senior housing, assisted-living or skilled nursing apartments in North America, according to the Association of Jewish Aging Services.
 

Federation-supported skilled nursing facilities offer religiously appropriate care that may include kosher food, Sabbath observance, Yiddish theater, Passover Seders, and other important religious and traditional practices.
 

Federations and more than 145 affiliated Jewish family service agencies provide mental health services to children, youth, and families. 398,150 adults are served; 230,900 received counseling. 399,000 children are served each year; 39,400 receive counseling. Other services include foster care, school-based programs, Jewish Big Brother/Big Sister programs, family life education, and art therapy, according to the Association of Jewish Family & Children’s Agencies.
 

These services and programs range from highly structured multi-disciplinary treatments to sheltered vocational rehabilitation, vocational skills training, competitive or supported employment, and outpatient counseling. There are food banks, family life education, residential housing for adults in a variety of settings from 24-hour supervised, transitional rehabilitation residences to permanent individual-supported apartments for emotionally disabled adults all designed to protect and/or secure the physical and mental health of men, women, and children.
 

Federation-supported programs serve individuals with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, neurological impairment, autism, and other conditions.