The Foster Care in Portugal takes a reduced expression, in a system of protection of children excessively focused on institutional placements, despite the political discourse more recent, advocate of deinstitutionalization, and the development of other social systems in several European countries. This paper aims to analyze the Portuguese Foster Care model, highlighting in particular its historical evolution latest concepts and typologies that mobilize the practices that expresses, and challenges to its development.
foster care; child care; legal framework
