Jeri B. Cohen, who presided over child welfare and foster care cases for 20 of her 27 years as a Miami-Dade Circuit judge, said she did not once see DCF pursue criminal charges against a parent who would not reclaim custody of a child following a stay in juvenile detention or psychiatric treatment. “Never,” she said.

Such decisions are so common among parents in child welfare court that judges and administrators have a word for them: “lockouts.” “I haven’t committed a felony,” said Rosenberg, who has not been charged. “I have begged everyone. I need help.”