The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir), based in Oslo, is responsible for matters relating to state-funded child welfare services, family counselling and adoption. 

Areas of Intervention

• Child welfare services/child protection
• Foster care
• Family counselling services
• Parental guidance
• Mediation in legal separations
• Children and young people
• Youth participation
• Children at risk of social exclusion
• Child poverty
• Adoption
• Victims of domestic abuse
• Gender equality
• Universal design
• Disabilities
• Crisis centres
• Forced marriage
• LBGTQI

Responsibilities/ Services

• Developing and setting standards for social services
• Developing guidelines for social services
• Identifying knowledge gaps and commissioning research
• Monitoring social problems
• Developing indicators and publishing statistics
• Consulting services
• Administration of grant programmes
• Communication campaigns and websites, e.g. on parental guidance
• Management of social service providers (in child welfare and family counselling services) throughout the country