Out-of-home placement of children with severe intellectual disabilities in Israel: research and implications

Placing children with intellectual/developmental disabilities out-of-home elicits several emotions and mixed reactions within the family. Parents intending to place their mentally retarded children express high levels of stress related to their burden of care on the family as a whole. Parental intention to apply for out-of-home placement is a function of their internal resources. These suggest that parents who apply for placement are lacking internal/external resources. The government of Israel expands its existing social support services in order to reduce out-of-home placement.