The institutionalization of Brazilian children is a historical phenomenon. The present research had as objective to investigate the meanings produced by social-mothers from a shelter in relation to the moment of getting out of the institution of children that has been for a long time in foster care, which takes place at a non-governmental organization which works through the "Casa-Lar" system. The data was collected through a focused group, using a semi-structured guide. The data interpretation was based on semiotic analysis and the main concepts were "meaning production" and "Discursive practices". The meanings constructed by the social mothers in relation to the children and, mainly, to their moment of getting out of the institution, alternate between maternal feelings to pessimist conclusions about the children's future, making contradiction the biggest feature of these professionals' experience.
foster institution; social mother; meaning production