Research interests and projects
Decisions in child protection
How do professionals judge whether a child is at risk, and when should a child be removed from home or returned? Rami has studied these judgments in Israel and in comparative studies across several countries, including the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada and Portugal.
He co-edited Decision Making and Judgement in Child Welfare and Protection (Oxford University Press, 2020).
Young people in care and after care
A long-running line of work follows young people who grew up in foster and residential care, looking at their readiness for independent living, education, social support and later life. A longitudinal study of residential care leavers, funded by the Israel Science Foundation, is led with Tehila Refaeli and Anat Zeira.
The 2025 book A decade-long follow-up of alumni of residential placements reports that work.
Measuring outcomes in human services
Rami develops frameworks for monitoring what happens to children in care and how services perform. A version of the approach has been used in U.S. foster care.
With Aron Shlonsky he edited From Evidence to Outcomes in Child Welfare (Oxford University Press, 2013).
Foster care and war
After the 2014 Gaza War he took part in a study of the needs of the foster care community, with Rachel Dekel and Miriam Schiff.
Funded projects
- 2018Longitudinal study of outcomes and life trajectories of residential care leaversIsrael Science Foundation; co-principal investigator with T. Refaeli and A. Zeira
- 2016Follow-up of Youth Villages graduatesMinistry of Education; co-principal investigator with A. Zeira
- 2015Needs of the foster care community after the Gaza WarMinistry of Welfare and Ashalim; co-principal investigator with R. Dekel and M. Schiff
Selected publications
- 2025Achdut, N., Benbenishty, R., & Zeira, A. (2025). Educational outcomes of care leavers and their matched peers: A gender perspective. Child Abuse & Neglect, 161.
- 2024Sulimani-Aidan, Y., Achdut, N., Benbenishty, R., & Zeira, A. (2024). Unveiling the role of residential care in care leavers' personal development and life outcomes. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
- 2023Vanderfaeillie, J., Van Holen, F., Verheyden, C., Van Puyenbroeck, B., & Benbenishty, R. (2023). Decision-making on out-of-home care: The case of Flanders. Children and Youth Services Review, 155.
- 2023Zeira, A., Achdut, N., & Benbenishty, R. (2023). Predicting educational attainments and enrollment to higher education: A longitudinal study of care leavers in Israel. Research in Higher Education, 1.
- 2023Achdut, N., Benbenishty, R., & Zeira, A. (2023). Labor market position among care leavers and their matched peers: A longitudinal comparative study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 145.
- 2022Zeira, A., Refaeli, T., Achdut, N., & Benbenishty, R. (2022). Economic self-sufficiency and the employment outcomes of care leavers: a 10-year follow up. Child & Family Social Work.
- 2022Skivenes, M., & Benbenishty, R. (2022). Securing permanence for children in care: A cross‐country analysis of citizen's view on adoption versus foster care. Child & Family Social Work.
- 2022Achdut, N., Benbenishty, R., & Zeira, A. (2022). Labor force attachment among care leavers in Israel: A longitudinal cross-sequential between-groups design. Child Abuse & Neglect, 133.
- 2022Segatto, B., Dal Ben, A., Genre Bert, S., & Benbenishty, R. (2022). Family support as a working style in child protection in Italy: A comparative study on social workers' child welfare attitudes. Child & Family Social Work.
- 2022Refaeli, T., Zeira, A., & Benbenishty, R. (2022). Ten years later: Satisfaction with intimate relationships and parenthood of young people aging out of residential care. Child Abuse & Neglect, 129.
- 2022Skivenes, M., & Benbenishty, R. (2022). Populations trust in the child protection system: A cross-country comparison of nine high-income jurisdictions. Journal of European Social Policy.
- 2021Sulimani-Aidan, Y., Achdut, N., Zeira, A., & Benbenishty, R. (2021). Psychological distress among care leavers during the transition to adulthood: Risk and protective factors throughout their life course. Child and Family Social Work 27(2). 324.
- 2021Benbenishty, R., Daru, E. R. & Astor, R. A. (2021). An exploratory study of prevalence and correlates of student maltreatment by teachers in Cameroon. International Journal of Social Welfare.
- 2020Benbenishty, R., & Fluke, J. D. (2020). Key concepts and theoretical perspectives. In J. D. Fluke, M. López, R. Benbenishty, E. J. Knorth, D. J. & Baumann, D. J. (Eds.). Decision making and judgement in child welfare and protection: Theory, research, and practice. Oxford.