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“Family identities in childhood protection.” Starting from the definition of P. Ricoeur’s narrative identity, the author expands this notion from a family perspective. A family, just like an individual, is defined as a stable entity – consistent over time while also claiming its singularity – by its own narrative. What about childhood protection when a child is placed by court order, leaving their parental home for a new one ? Affecting among other things the habitat, the Family Self is hurt. Beyond physical separation, the whole family identity is challenged; for the children and their family but also for the professionals and foster families hosting, receiving and making decisions for/with them. We can then speak of family identities in the plural as these experiences produce altering effects on the identities of each and all, including institutions.