This study focuses on issues concerning treatment in penal institutions determined by mandatory commitment and the problems relating to the release of adults with mental health disorders who have been committed. The analysis was based on the provisions of Act10216, which determines the end of hospitalization in psychiatric institutions. It then looks at the situation of Maria dos Anjos, a released person currently being sheltered at the Heitor Carrilho Hospital, a custodial institution in the city of Rio de Janeiro. These institutions are spaces of many contradictions, considering their hybrid setting: the coexistence of the medical apparatus, the security apparatus and the legal division. Treatment is often hindered by legal decisions and therefore in conflict with collective health policies. We have raised the following questions: How should these people be released considering the precarious situation of the mental health services? And what will happen to them with the end of these institutions?