This article examines Bangladesh’s continued reliance on orphanages and residential institutions, arguing that poverty, disability, family breakdown, and limited social protection often drive unnecessary separation of children from their families. Drawing on international evidence and the author’s experience supporting deinstitutionalisation in Liberia, it advocates investing in family strengthening, social protection, parenting support, and family-based alternative care rather than expanding institutional care, while calling for stronger implementation of Bangladesh’s existing child protection laws.