The meeting will take place in the presence of the children's mother and separately from a hearing or interview with her.
The authority will provide the appellants with the following details: the identity of the social worker, the date of the meeting, its location and its estimated duration - all of this at least 14 days before the scheduled date, in order to enable the children to be prepared and to allay their fears.
- After receiving notice of the date of the hearing, the appellants will provide the social worker, whose name and details will be forwarded to them, through the attorney, all the documents they wish to submit as background, including reports from a social worker on their behalf, psychological summaries, documents from educational institutions, etc.
The decision regarding the actual duration of the meeting and the question of whether to hold a meeting or additional meetings will be left to the social worker and will be based on the question of whether one meeting was sufficient to create trust in such a way that it is possible to receive all the required information and the children's position.
In the case of children for whom the social worker assesses that it is not possible to hold a hearing due to their age or cognitive state, the hearing will be conducted by an attorney, who will then be held close to the mother's hearing, with only an attorney present on behalf of the minor. In such a case, the social worker will prepare a report that will clarify why it was not possible to hold a hearing for the minor himself.
Such a meeting will be held no later than July 1, 2023."
(Emphasis in the original - M.A., 3)."
I also added and charged the Authority with expenses.
- More than a month later, and four days before the deadline for the interview as stated in this decision had passed, on June 25, 2023, a request for reconsideration of my aforesaid decision was submitted. The request was justified by the fact that in a meeting with the professionals, it emerged that the Authority disagrees with the court's instructions both on the general level and in the matter of the minors that are the subject of this proceeding. The Authority further argued that my said decision was given without it being able to respond to the matter, despite the many opportunities detailed above. The Authority also requested that a social worker for the Youth Law be replaced by a social worker who specializes in caring for children. As to the proceeding before me, the Authority requested that the appeal be deleted, since the restraining order is no longer on the agenda, and the Authority also requested, alternatively, to extend the date for holding such a meeting.
- In a decision given the following day, on June 28, 2023, I held as follows:
"The request is rejected without the need for a response, and it would have been better if it had not been submitted.