This publication looks at children who are vulnerable to HIV infection, providing services to mitigate this vulnerability and to assist those who have already acquired HIV. To explore this, the authors spoke to more than 1,000 children and adolescents aged 8 to 20 years living in communities severely affected by war and displacement, child trafficking, or high HIV mortality - communities in which the social safety net had been severely disrupted. The authors enquired about their mental health and their life experiences; they offered then recommendations for appropriate psychosocial support services to decrease their vulnerability.