This article examines the transition in Romanian child welfare policy from a paternalistic attitude of taking responsibility for "abandoned" children to a capitalist orientation of reinstating responsibility for "abandoned" children to the private sphere. While this shift in child policy is often seen to reflect a withdrawal of the public sphere from the private world of childcare, this study argues, alternatively, that this shift demonstrates a change in the form of governmental intervention. This article is based on ethnographic research that examines the reflections of Romanian child welfare professionals upon their changing roles.