This study aims the poor women that are the head of the household in the quality of care and provision articulators. For that, we take as reference ten women leaders of single-parent families reached by the Centro de Referência da Assistência Social - CRAS (Social Assistance Refence Center), at Vila São José neighborhood, in São João de Meriti city. The analysis was articulated around the experiences of these women looking for knowing the meaning of the family leadership and the strategies developed through the articulation of care/provision in their daily lives. This case study develops from the categories family, gender and work, that underlies the qualitative research. The results indicate that the tripod - precarious work, social programs and aid networks - provides sustainability for the provision and care performance. Thus, the family leadership is legitimated by an authority referenced in the condition of woman-mother that expresses itself through the gain of feminine independence and new responsabilities.