Deinstitutionalization is a complex process that takes place at different speeds in European countries, and its goal is to create services with preventive action for the purpose of protecting the well-being of families, especially children. In the Republic of Croatia, the mentioned process also takes place accompanied by European standards. Because of the thorough planning of the deinstitutionalization process, operational plans were created by the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy. Deinstitutionalization enables greater involvement of users in the community, which is one of the advantages, but this form of public care also faces many challenges, such as a lack of foster families, insufficient spatial capacity and insufficient number of non-institutional services. Some of the alternatives to institutional accommodation are residence, organized housing, foster care. Although the process of deinstitutionalization is still ongoing, there are examples of good practice such as the Center for the provision of services in the community Svitanje, the Bedekovčina Educational Home, the Center for the provision of services in the community Dugave.