This article seeks to systematize elements of analysis and reflection about the childhood protection system in Portugal, as a field of intervention and study of Social Work. It analyzes the problem of children who are in unfavorable social, family and cultural contexts that limit the realization of their rights and their well-being. It questions some dimensions of the problem that constitute the object of study of Social Work in the framework of the European social model, as well as the model for an open coordination of social policies for protection of childhood and the family.
well-being; childhood; Social Work; intervention models; protection system