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Young refugees experience traumas, exile, and sometimes even the loss of their family. To overcome these difficulties, they need to be surrounded and supported by reliable adults, be they members of their family or of the host society. Particularly during adolescence, traumatic experiences and cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings or adjustment difficulties between these young people and the adults around them. The latter, whose personal and/or cultural reference points have been shaken up, may lose their “adult” skills, their “parental functions,” and fail to adequately take care of the young refugees. Using clinical examples, this article will discuss young refugees’ needs in terms of “adult functions” and the identity-related tribulations that they can experience when faced with an adult world that struggles to accommodate them.