This article focuses on the study of current transformation processes occurring in Ukraine in the provision of social services to various groups of children, in particular orphan children and children deprived of parental care. The meanings of the concepts of “orphan child” and “child deprived of parental care,” aspects of establishing this group of official status children, giving the right to receive appropriate social services and provide social and legal protection are considered. The features of the deinstitutionalization and reform of the system of institutional care for children in modern Ukraine are investigated in the context of the legal, organizational and social aspects of this reform. The necessity and importance of the process of deinstitutionalization for the formation, successful socialization, personal development of the child and ensuring the right of each child to be brought up in the family or in the environment closest to the family has been substantiated.
