Child abandonment is defined as leaving a child without reasonable care or supervision. Every child has the right to grow up in his biological family, but sometimes the child's development in the biological family is threatened and it is necessary to take measures to protect the child's integrity and positive development that are in his best interest. There are numerous consequences that the abandonment of the primary caregiver, usually the parent, has on the child. The most common consequences are emotional, psychological and social. If the child is placed in an institution after being separated from his parents, the consequences are even more pronounced. Research shows that children who grow up in homes have significantly worse results on tests that monitor cognitive development than children who grow up in foster families. Also, children placed in institutions have more problems at school, are more restless, have a harder time making friends, and have a harder time engaging in healthy emotional relationships. Adoption is considered the most successful form of care for abandoned children. Although even in a new family, children may have difficulties due to separation from their parents and problems with adapting to a new family, adoption is still considered a protective factor in a child's life. In all cases of separation of children from their families, abandoned children are at risk of developing behavioral or mental health disorders. Prevention of abandoned children focuses on services that reduce risk factors. Therefore, the prevention of abandoned children is a necessary part of the work of social workers. Services are the activities and actions of social workers on the risk factors of parents, children and the environment. Services aimed at helping and supporting children refer to services for working with children who are placed in institutions, and all these services are carried out by social workers who monitor the psychosocial development of the child and work on his adaptation in the new accommodation. The aim of this work is to investigate the neglected social problem of child abandonment by their primary caregivers and the consequences it leaves on them, analyzing the causes and consequences of child abandonment. Also, the paper tries to investigate the forms of preventive programs aimed at reducing the consequences of child abandonment with an emphasis on the role of the social worker in working with abandoned children.