The DASRF is a private foundation set up to encourage Dutch and American exchange on areas of interest pertinent to social research. In 2008, the first year the foundation will be in operation, the foundation will provide two American and two Dutch citizens with a $2500 writing scholarship to write an academic paper on a specified research topic. It is hoped that the four winning papers, presented on the foundation site, will provide interesting cross cultural information, raising awareness of similarities and differences inherent to the two countries' social service systems and helping to identify areas of comparative social research that warrant further study.

Every month select reader feedback will be arranged and presented by the director, on this web site's forum section. In this way the DASRF hopes to serve as a stimulating forum of cross-cultural exchange among social service students and professionals in the Netherlands and United States.

Each year the foundation plans to examine a different area of interest. In 2008, the foundation plans to explore mental health care work in the Netherlands and United States along comparative and cross cultural lines.

The four winning papers will all address the same six-part question. It is hoped that the papers will shed light on a variety of topics and issues, such as the prevalence and efficacy of various treatment strategies, the social and cultural factors that give rise to the use of specific treatment strategies, and trends and issues of particular interest to today's mental health worker and client.

DASRF Board of Directors:
Robert Broberg, Doug Land and Martin Karlinsky.