EUSARF stands for European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care for Children and Adolescents. It is a body of researchers in the fields of child welfare and child protection. The board of EUSARF is voluntarily banded together and members are concerned with the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in these fields. The association is founded in 1989 and has its origins in collaboration between Flemish and Dutch universities, which started in the early eighties.

Today, the EUSARF board is covering 15 European countries and includes one board member from Israel, United States and Canada (see ‘Members’).

EUSARF wants to promote and develop within Europe scientific research into the field of child and family welfare and child protection, and interchange of information relating to these subjects between European members and other associations throughout the world. To reach these goals, EUSARF organizes biennial international conferences and supports international seminars (see ‘Activities’). Proceedings of conferences and seminars are published in collaboration with board members (see ‘Publications’).

EUSARF has strong and long-lasting ties with other international associations of child welfare and child protection researchers, among others the International Association for Outcome-Based Evaluation and Research on Families’ and Children’s Services (IAOBERfcs), the International Network Foster Care Research (INFCR) and the International Association of Training and Research in Family Education (AIFREF).