1. ELEM – Youth in Distress in Israel Reviewed by: Scott Berlin

2. Webpage Reviewed "ELEM - Youth in Distress in Israel." ELEM - Youth in Distress in Israel. CNW, n.d. Web. 21 May 2013..

3. Organization Objectives Founded by a joint American and Israeli team in 1982 “ELEM reaches out to all populations of troubled, ‘invisible’ youth, including Arabs, Ultra Orthodox, young sex offenders, and immigrants… Youth of all ages and from all backgrounds seek and receive help from ELEM” “Offers preventative care and support via counseling centers, shelters, rehabilitation services, online chat and forums, residential and day treatment, vocational training, mentoring, and other social services.” Keeps members and visitors up to date with news relating to trends of the regions youth

4. Key Taking Points Neglected teens of Israel are faced with problems that many of them cannot handle on their own, ELEM creates a variety of programs help mitigate these problems Programs focus on problems such as: Teenage Prostitution Teenage Homelessness Teenage Crime and Probation Teenage Illiteracy Unemployment and Financial Struggles

5. Active Programs Programs are focused on mitigating these problems include: Sexual Abuse Counseling Volunteer Programs for Teens on Probation Allowing teens that have had legal problems in the past a second change to get their lives back on track Teen Work Placement Programs Countering the major problem of a rising unemployment rate Outreach Vans Providing humanitarian aid every night in over 22 major cities located in Israel Family Therapy Homeless Shelters

6. Global Perspective This organization's site highlighted the struggles that teenagers face in Israel today. It also connected me to news articles that helped better understand how these problems are affecting the lives of teenagers and what ELEM specifically is doing to help The problem of the large increase of teenage prostitution in current years was surprising to me at first. But, through further research I have found that this is a problem that many LDCs are currently facing ELEM also provides information from their annual report on the youths that they treat indicating: A 10% annual increase in reported drug use Increasing discrimination facing Israel’s Ethiopian immigrants

7. Recommendation I would recommend this site to Youth Development Professionals who are focused specifically on the Israel and the Middle East. The site provides an abundance of scholarly articles that highlight the problems that teens are currently facing. Additionally, the organization itself does a great job of displaying its efforts to combat the complex issues that these teens face. The activities that ELEM could be replicated in different places in the world and have similar, positive results.