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This paper looks at the impact of complex child or adolescent situations on collaboration within the network of caregivers, illustrated by the metaphor of the network as a sponge. This network, an essential element of the ecosystem supporting these children or adolescents and their families, absorbs significant aspects of family dynamics, often unbeknownst to the practitioners; it filters them by mentalizing them, and then expels them once filtered, for the benefit of the child or adolescent and their family. Clinical vignettes from work of the OCEJ-HUG mobile team, which brings together l’Office de l’enfance et de la jeunesse (Child and Youth Welfare Office) and the Geneva University Hospital, illustrate one way of supporting the network in its filtering function.