Who among us does not remember an article or a movie about a child who was thrown into the street, educated in a boarding school or in an orphanage, and over the years grew up to become a successful businessman who conquered the world?
It may be a classic Hollywood script for a tear-jerking drama, but the actual reality is different.
In the State of Israel, there are thousands of young people who were educated in out-of-home settings, with no family background.
Reaching adulthood and becoming citizens, these young people face difficulties and challenges that make it difficult for them to integrate into Israeli society.
This transition period is a challenge for every young person.
It is characterized by the search for professional identity and the future direction of life, with some having the option to continue living in their parents' home, and enjoy the support of financial and emotional support.
Young people who have graduated from an out-of-home placement do not have such a privilege.
The transition to the new chapter of life involves detachment from the framework that served as a "second home" for them, gave them a sense of belonging, identity and protection, and was for them an anchor and center of their lives throughout their adult years.
Unlike young people with a family background, out-of-home placement graduates often find themselves alone in the world during this formative period.
They face a demanding reality of life, given the economic difficulties and lack of family support, which intensifies the need for economic survival.
They find it difficult to fulfill their personal desires and aspirations, certainly in relation to young people their age, who have a family safety net.
In fact, within a short period of time of completing their boarding education, these young people are required not only to disengage from the framework, but also to take care of their own housing, livelihood, training or education, develop social networks, and more.
The statistics are not in their favor.
Many of them experience difficulty and distress accompanied by crises, which impair their chances of future success.
Most of us do not know such young people.
The needs of this group are in the shadow of other national challenges.
She has to deal with the daily challenges alone in most cases and is considered "the backyard" of Israeli society, when the need for her survival outweighs her ability to make her voice heard in public.
As is well known, the strength of society is expressed in the strength of its weak link.
These thousands of young people deserve the real opportunity to succeed in their lives, and there is no reason not to.
This is our basic and moral duty and it will testify to the degree of our resilience as a society to provide them with the necessary resources for their optimal integration and future contribution to society.
The State of Israel should see these young people as significant and contributing potential in the labor market, enable them to be given an equal opportunity, promote them and help them with their aspirations to thrive in any profession or field in which they wish.
As a country, we must encourage them to exhaust their skills and abilities and reach key positions in high-tech, politics, the capital market, industry and education.
Along with the regulatory responsibility in this matter, it is important to remember that this is an issue of social and national responsibility.
Hence, it is our job to be a lever of pressure, to raise the issue of the miracle, to bring it to the right ears, and to promote actions on the ground.
These days, the "Public Forum - Youth Villages, Welfare Boarding and Foster Care in Israel" is promoting legislation for thousands of young people who are defined as having no family background.
A bill on the subject was tabled in the Knesset.
Approval of the law will provide a base of services tailored for them so that they can exercise their right to equality, personal autonomy and independent living in the community.
This legislation will be another significant step in promoting these young people and integrating them into the social fabric.
In this way, we may be able to make the Hollywood script a reality for thousands of young people in Israel.
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