Are the social services too quick to act?

By PEGGY CIDOR
Ayala Sabag, well-known Jerusalemite radical activist, recalls her own experience. "I will always remember the date. It was June 30, 1994. I was alone, abandoned by the father of my four children, with no money and no support. I was so devastated that during a meeting with my social worker I told her, in a moment of despair, that I wanted to die. "Within a few hours, all four children had been taken away from their schools. They were told that I was very sick and had been hospitalized. Psychiatric services sent an ambulance to get me. "With the help of my boss, I went to a well-known private psychiatrist, who issued a report stating that I was overwhelmed by my condition, but perfectly sane and capable of raising my children, and that the only thing I needed was help and support. "Once the psychiatrist was involved, the children were brought back home the following day. Today, they serve in the army and are exemplary children and outstanding students." Despite her personal trauma, Sabag is not willing to categorically state that children should never be removed from their families. "There are cases where there is no other option, and the state and the social services have the duty to save those children immediately. But there are many other cases where help and support would bring better results and spare the children and their parents the trauma of the separation. It would be much cheaper for the state and for society than to keep all those institutions. "I just want the social services to think a little bit more before that take such a dramatic decision."