118 information and telephone assistance center operated by Welfare Ministry - Is not sufficient

The 118 information and telephone assistance center operated by the Ministry of Welfare, which began operating in 2004, and which is intended to provide information services and initial assistance to the general public, provides the most customer service.
According to internal data, calls to the call center last an average of one minute and 22 seconds. "What can be done in almost 90 seconds? Maybe apologize for the lack of help or refer the caller to another source," says Edith Lev of the "Forum for Combating Poverty." The "Rabbis for Human Rights" organization reports similar cases: about two weeks ago, they asked the custommer service  to urgently help an helpless person who had reached a nursing home situation, but received only a phone number from the Welfare Bureau. According to Siegel Asher, director of the organization's rights center, "experience shows that HaMoked does not provide an answer but directs callers to other parties - without monitoring whether the problem has been resolved. HaMoked reflects the lack of substantial answers."
An internal audit report prepared by the Ministry of Welfare, which is published here for the first time, confirms the complaints and points out several deficiencies in the 118 hotline, which has been operated in recent years by the Bintam trust group controlled by the Yehuda and Zohar Zisapel brothers. For partial delivery of activity data, for lack of documentation of inquiries, for the quality of response to calls, for handling inquiries according to procedures and for inadequate response of the social workers employed at the call center.
The payment to the private company is defined by output: in 2019, when about 132,000 applications were processed, it amounted to NIS 1.5 million, and in the first six months of 2020 - with the spread of the corona plague - it reached NIS 1.2 million.
Based on a sample examination of the scope of activity at the center for two months, the audit found that the Ministry of Welfare paid the private company about NIS 95,000 too much. The report also shows that those in charge of the center at the Ministry of Welfare - the heads of the Foreign Relations and Spokespersons Division - did not supervise it for a long time.
According to the report, Bynet Semech refused to provide the review editors with the full data they requested. For example, only about 170 recordings of calls were given - about a quarter of the requested number. Furthermore, some of the files were truncated. It was not possible to examine matters such as "adjusting the manpower situation at the center to the requirements of the agreement", "circumstances for high turnover of employees" and perhaps most importantly - "conducting a comprehensive examination of the quality of response and documentation of inquiries". However, an examination of two monthly reports produced by Bynet Semech, which are also used for financial accounting, among other things, found "inconsistent and missing data." Private that "all recommendations are acceptable and correct", and promised to re-examine "all data production and reporting processes".
According to the report, which was submitted by the Ministry of Welfare following a request under the Freedom of Information Law submitted by Adv. Elad from the "Success" organization, those in charge of the ministry's hotline - heads of the Foreign Relations and Spokespersons Division - did not supervise it for a long time. This may be why they chose the wing, unusually, not to comment on some of the findings.
As for the manner in which the service was performed, the audit found that contrary to the tender instructions, some applications for immediate assistance are not forwarded to professionals outside the center - in the Ministry of Welfare, organizations such as ARN or to a social worker at a municipal center. The implication, the report said, is that in crisis situations "he does not receive immediate and optimal treatment for his application."
Based on the procedures for handling calls appearing in the tender, the auditors listened to 95 calls recorded at the center during the months of October-October 2020: 65% received a correct answer, 24% received a semi-correct answer and 11% did not receive a correct answer. Despite the procedures, it turns out that some of the referrals in emergency matters - especially those related to violence - were not transferred to the care of a social worker at the hotline, and in other cases the appellant was told to "contact the police and / or the Family Peace Center.
Examples were also found of the "inappropriate and inappropriate response" of social workers operated by the center, which handles requests for immediate professional assistance. In several conversations, the social worker is heard talking in parallel with the applicant and her family members, and sharing the handling of the application with them. "In the conversation, the voices of the family members are heard in the background, and it is heard that the conversation is taking place in their presence," it was written. In another conversation, the employee asks her husband to help her find a street - and tells the caller about it.
In another conversation - this time "only" between the call center and the social worker - members of the social worker are also present. The essence of the appeal is the identification of a violent man. "We are the garbage of everything," , Maybe to the chief. The report notes that "although the applicant herself does not hear the conversation at this stage, the conversation between the representative and the social worker is inappropriate and indicates a mood that may also affect the course of the conversation."
In several conversations, the social workers expressed themselves in an "inappropriate manner by an official representative of a government ministry": they shared "personal stories (of the caregiver, AK) and her views on the male sex"; used "cynical expressions" and implicitly criticized the welfare offices in the sector The Arab ("The appellant sounded embarrassed," the review said).
The report also criticizes the Foreign Relations and Spokespersons Division of the Ministry of Welfare, which is in charge of Call Center 118. According to the report, the division's conduct indicates ".