The goal of the research is to determine the conditions of effective pedagogical support of families and adolescents in a difficult life situation. The research used the following methods: the terminological analysis of definitions on the research problem; the analysis of the websites and publications on a research subject; interviewing and questioning of teenagers, their parents, teachers; testing; supervision; method of an expert assessment; statistical, high-quality and quantitative processing of results and experimental work. The paper suggests conditions for preventing the social orphanhood. The technique of determining the social profile of a family based on signs of family problems is presented. One of the most important conditions is defined as the pedagogical support of teenagers and their families in difficult life situations. The authors examine a pedagogical support as a special sphere of activity of a teacher in which stages of adolescents’ socialization run consecutively. The article describes the socialization of adolescents in a difficult life situation as a process that occurs under influence of a particular set of factors, the main of which is a family. As a result, the research investigated the causes and factors of family maladjustment that affect socialization of young people. It proposed a form of rehabilitation work with families in difficult life situations.