This research aimed to evaluate the role exercised by families of adolescents experiencing the process of institutionalization/deinstitutionalization, in an entity in the city of Uberaba, Minas Gerais. It studied five families who had regained custody of their children. The materials used to collect the data included semi-structured interviews with the parent(s), the adolescents themselves and the director of the institution; socioeconomic identification records; examination of the institution's record books; adolescents' information files; research field diaries. The results showed multifactorial reasons for the sheltering, associated with poverty, lack of socio-psychological family support from the community health centers, absence of the father figure and a poor family structure. The sheltering period was painful for both children and parents. The work of the institutions involved, the adolescents' desire to leave the institution and the financial restructuring of their families helped with the process of deinstitutionalization. However, the study showed the need for subsequent multi-professional monitoring.
Refugies; Adolescents; Deinstitutionalization; Family structure; Family