Institutional foster care for children and adolescents as a protective measure requires attention to two basic principles, Exceptionality and Temporariness. This paper contextualises institutional care as a possible protection measure for children and adolescents in vulnerable situations. It also discusses the negative impact of the removal of the child from his family, and the insecurity of administrative referrals, made in an unqualified way, in addition to guaranteeing the right to Family Coexistence and the possibility of rupture, if the legal procedures for institutional foster care are not fulfilled by the actors of the System of Guarantee of the Rights of Children and Adolescents (SGDCA).