After a warm and stimulating welcome by Prof. Dr. Dorothea Christ, Director of the Center for Development and Services of the ZHAW, School of Social Work, the participants were welcomed and introduced to the conference topic by ZHAW Foster Care Researchers Dr. Daniela Reimer, Prof. Karin Werner and Renate Stohler.

Lectures on diversity and youth welfare by Prof. Dr. Stefan Köngeter (FH St Gallen) and on the relationship between diversity and foster care by Prof. Dr. Klaus Wolf (University of Siegen) set an excellent framework for the topic on the first day of the conference. Prof. Dr. Andreas Bernard (Leuphana University Lüneburg) gave a lecture on "New reproductive technologies and the new order of the family", providing a stimulating view of the conference topic from the outside.

The conference topic was discussed in depth on both days in various parallel workshop sessions featuring a total of 33 presentations. The relationship between diversity and normality, the relationship between special circumstances and general foster care issues, the (lack of) diversity of social services and thematic gaps were emphasized again and again. Among other things, it became clear that in many countries, birth families still receive little attention in foster care – both in research and in practice. Dr. Hélène Join-Lambert (Univ. Paris-Nanterre) and Dr. Daniela Reimer (ZHAW) summarized these points in their final contribution.

The participants had time and opportunity for intensive exchanges and networking during coffee breaks as well as at the barbecue on the first evening, which was also the ideal occasion to celebrate the publication of the book “Improving education outcomes for children and young people in care: International research, policy and practice”, edited (inter alia) by two active network members, Dr. Patricia McNamara (University of Melbourne) and Dr. Carme Montserrat (University of Girona).

The network is also busy making further plans for the future: a new homepage will be launched in the coming months, a special issue with conference contributions is being prepared in cooperation with an international journal, and a short, low-threshold meeting will be held next year as part of the EUSARF 2020 Conference in Zurich.

The 11th International Foster Care Research Network Conference will take place in Barcelona in autumn 2021.