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The author first outlines the institutional system of therapeutic foster care (TFC) in which the child’s problematic is studied - a specific affiliation in foster care – before going on to outline the conditions and dynamics of care in protective separation, in this case with a therapeutic dimension.A clinical vignette illustrates the evolution of affiliation, in accordance with long-lasting empirical experience of the professional team in supporting the mental dynamics of children benefiting from both their bonds with their initial family and with their foster family.Based on research and articles published on the subject as also the results of a recent study referring to foster care affiliation outcomes, the author develops the concept of “dual affiliation” that children in foster care deploy, whose results will depend on the quality of the professional support framework (human and material) in such an extreme existential situation.