This dissertation aims to study the challenges of Social Service Agents who work in a Reception Center in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. This Center is responsible for the reception and the referral of children and youth who were caught on the streets on their own. Based on our own experience, we start with the assumption that there is a new profile of children in the situation of the streets. In the last few years, we have observed that many of them have developed a growing involvement with the world of drugs, both as consumers and as participants of the drug trade. Many of them end up being forced out of their homes. In Addition, we would like to highlight two other aspects: the increasing presence of girls among the street population and the growing use of Crack by this group. Regarding the methodology, we used a qualitative approach and illustrated our discussion with interviews conducted with social workers and the director of the Reception Center. The results were grouped in 5 categories: (1) The social workers views about public policies and social services ; (2) Outreach work on the streets; (3) Lack of support; (4) Precariousness of infrastructure in services aimed at this group; (5) The world of drugs: the big enigma?