Last two decades there has been an increase in research area about youth leaving care. Until last decade of XX Century there has only been research on small scale samples describing needs and life of youth leaving care. After 1990 research which used different research technique and design start to appear in analyzes of the process of youth leaving care. This article provides a comparative overview of policies and practices regarding the transition from youth to independence and perceived differences in defining concepts, laws and outcomes of alternative care in Serbia and Hungary. In general, studies have shown that young people leaving alternative care face the risk of social exclusion and marginalization and a lack of political action directed at them as vulnerable group. Youth on care belong to unprivileged group because there is a high probability that they will become beneficiaries of the social protection system, become socially excluded but also dependent on social welfare services as adults.