State audit warns of deepening social worker shortage in local welfare services

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman published a stark report Tuesday on local welfare services in Israel, saying social workers face a severe staffing shortage, persistent difficulty recruiting and keeping workers, empty positions, and a heavy caseload that has worsened since the October 7 war began.

According to the audit, 40.4% of social workers employed in social services departments in positions funded by the Welfare Ministry left their jobs between 2015 and 2022. The number of unfilled posts rose by about 47% in just three years, from 776 vacant positions in 2022 to 1,142 by mid-2025. Even though the system expanded from 6,192 posts in 2022 to 7,094 in 2025, a rise of about 15%, the vacancy rate increased from 13% to 16%.

Englman said, “The events of October 7 and the war that broke out afterward highlighted the importance of social workers in social services departments. The audit found a systemic difficulty in recruiting and retaining social workers, and that in the authorities examined the social workers carried especially heavy caseloads, which increased further since the war began.” He urged the Welfare Ministry, together with local authorities, to find ways to retain workers and quickly set a maximum caseload per social worker.

The report said most of the emergency-related positions added after the war also remained vacant, with only 18% filled in 2023, 32% in 2024, and 28% in 2025. Nationally, welfare cases climbed from 478,533 in 2022 to 512,054 in 2024, while in 50 cases, about 6% of those examined, one social worker handled more than 1,000 cases a year. The reviewed authorities were Migdal HaEmek, Modi'in, Ma'alot-Tarshiha, Kiryat Motzkin, and the local council of Rosh Pina, where workers also took part in training on bereavement, emergency preparedness, psychological first aid, and delivering bad news.

The heaviest burdens were in work with families, older adults, and people with disabilities. In a survey of 188 social workers, 54% reported significant or very significant burnout linked to the war, 71% cited workload as the main obstacle, 61% pointed to staff shortages, and 60% to the growing number of cases. More than half said they could provide adequate help only to a moderate extent, about a third said they were not paid for overtime, and nearly half said they had often or very often worked unpaid since the war began. The comptroller also criticized the Welfare Ministry for using a staffing formula that does not match real needs and for failing to adopt, since 2021, recommendations to cap the number of clients per social worker. He called on the Welfare Ministry to work with the Finance Ministry and local authorities to retain staff and prepare for rising demand for welfare services.