Research & Publications
Impact Report
2024 Highlights
On October 7th, 2023, Israel experienced the largest national catastrophe since its establishment. As of June 2024, approximately 200,000* people have been evacuated from their homes. About 30% of these displaced people are teens and young adults.
Halfway through the year, ELEM presents an updated report on the status of these newly at-risk youth.
Teenagers from the North use drugs and alcohol at twice the rate of their Southern counterparts.
Compared to 5% from the South, 22% of evacuated teens from the North participate in unsupervised parties -- four times the number of teens in the North displaying this risky behavior. These alarming statistics concerning teens from the North are a stark warning.
of displaced youth are dropping out of traditional school, family, and social frameworks.
consume drugs and alcohol at alarming rates, starting as young as 12.
of evacuated youth are using or abusing psychoactive substances.
displaced teens and young adults suffer from depression and/or anxiety.
Breathing Spaces
The In-School Breathing Spaces are an expansion of the hotel and kibbutz-based Breathing Spaces and build on ELEM’s preexisting Shluk and drop-in center programs. ELEM’s understanding of and experience working in school systems positioned us to quickly create partnerships with schools hosting evacuated youth and continue providing support throughout the day.
In-school Breathing Spaces identify and provide informal emotional support to teenagers in the education system who find it increasingly challenging to participate in school activities due to the war. Many of these teens demonstrate risky behaviors and are in danger of overt or covert attrition.
ELEM now focuses on creating full systemic support for these youth, ensuring they can connect with mentorship, community, and social-emotional frameworks throughout the day. Our longstanding, innovative approach provides trauma support and interventions in the places most needed to the youth most at risk.
Four New In-School Breathing Spaces
Eshkol region, Ofakim, Netanya, and Tiberius (North)
Five Pre-Existing In-School Breathing Spaces
Kiryat Shmona, Nof HaGalil, Ashdod, Holon (Two Locations)
ELEM Digital
Teenagers see the virtual world as a familiar space. When the war broke out and physical public spaces closed down, the internet remained; their intuitive response was use it to express their feelings, to search for peers, and to find resources for handling their situation.
Since October 7th, 4,995 youths have received services and support in ELEM’s digital platforms.
ELEM has documented:
- A 47% rise in appeals for emotional support on our digital platforms compared to the pre-war period.
- 2,504 appeals from teenagers in distress who reached the mental health support that ELEM operates on WhatsApp and in our chat.
- A 58% rise in emotional support giving (interventions initiated by staff).
- 2,003 identifications and initial interventions with teens who expressed emotional distress on social media such as TikTok, Instagram, and other websites.
- 431 appeals of teens on our Arabic chat services, compared to only 230 before the war.
Looking Forward:
Establishing Long-Term Solutions
ELEM's emergency activity in the centers for evacuated teens has once again proven that one of its greatest advantages is being flexible and informal in its programming. By promoting a trauma-oriented holistic model for intervention and care, ELEM's programs provide a series of responses meant for long-term handling of exposure to trauma and the interruption of life and routine that teenagers have experienced by creating a safe and stable environment within the local municipality level.
ELEM effectively identifies and reaches out to teens in need, creates judgment-free relationships, meets youth on their turf, and opens the door for counseling, support, and meaningful change for teens who would otherwise not access any therapeutic systems.
Given the complexities of the war situation and its ramifications for youth, ELEM continues to forge channels of cooperation with government ministries, public institutions, businesses, foundations, and other NGOs—both in Israel and the US—to advance and develop new responses to current distress among teenagers.
*Due to the unstable situation, this number is often changing. The latest data indicates 200,000 internally displaced people.