These offer a real residential option for children who live on the streets and spend the night in squares or in front of commercial buildings with no security, risking their lives. There are four homes in Rio de Janeiro and two in Niterói. In each, boys and girls live within a family environment which nurtures friendship, respect and trust. The routines of the homes and the participation of all in their socio-educational activities are of great importance, working as a stimulus towards responsibility and the practice of citizenship. The children and adolescents look after the cleaning and tidying of the house, help in the kitchen and have scheduled hours for school, work and leisure. The pedagogical system differs between the residential homes in Rio de Janeiro and those in Niterói. In Rio, each house has an educational team trained by a co-ordinator and social worker or teacher, responsible for its functioning and for the progress of the work with children and adolescents attended there. The team is present and working during normal full-time hours, other than in exceptional situations, with a rotational shift system of teachers at night and at weekends. Unlike the residential houses in Rio de Janeiro, the houses in Niterói work with a system of social parents, also known as social couples. The couple are resident 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the children - living together, involving themselves and acting as a real family; father and mother to the children and adolescents. The work is supervised by a team trained by a co-ordinator, social worker and teacher.

Residential Home Casa Dom Bosco - Located in Vila Kosmos in the north of Rio de Janeiro, Casa Dom Bosco is for male adolescents from 14 to 18 years. It has a capacity for 27 boys.

Residential Home Nossa Senhora da Acolhida ("Casa das Meninas" Girls' House) - With the capacity to shelter up to 25 girls and adolescents, "Casa das Meninas" is São Martinho's residential home dedicated to attend to female children and adolescents from 6 to 18 years of age. It neighbours the Community Centre of Vicente de Carvalho, and has already received illustrious visits such as lawyer Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in August 2001.

Residential Home São Cristóvão - Located in the neighbourhood of the same name, Casa São Cristóvão has the capacity to shelter 25 boys from 6 to14 years of age.

Residential Home São Martinho - Situated in Niterói, the residential home São Martinho shelters 12 boys from 14 years of age. It functions with a system of social parenting.

Residential Home São Pedro - With the capacity to attend up to 25 boys and adolescents between 6 and 14 years, the residential home São Pedro is located in Santa Teresa, in the centre of Rio de Janeiro.

Residential Home São Vicente de Paulo - The second of the residential homes in Niterói, the residential home Vicente de Paulo is in the Fátima neighbourhood and, like the Residential home São Martinho, uses a system of social parenting. It has the capacity for 12 male adolescents between 14 and 18 years.