The aim of this paper is to present community support programs for people with mental illness in Croatia. Mental illnesses are becoming a growing problem today, and most commonly affect young people which is more likely to impair their quality of life and ability to work. People with mental illness face numerous obstacles throughout their lives, facing stigmatization, prejudice, misunderstanding and rejection. Likewise, the treatment system is still mostly hospital based and most of them are placed in social care homes, psychiatric hospitals and smaller family homes. However, it is not enough to treat people with mental illness with medications, putting them in institutions and releasing them into unsupportive environment. In order to maintain their recovery from illness and preserve their mental health it is necessary to help them in the best possible way, which is to integrate them into society and involve in the community. Therefore, this paper focuses on processes that raise the quality of life of a person, describes the process of deinstitutionalization, transformation of social care homes, models of community development, social services, case management, self-empowerment, self-representation, and the major role of social work in this field. The positive impact of accepting a person with mental illness in the community and providing support has the effect of regaining a sense of self-worth, restoring confidence and a particularly positive effect on mental health care.