social work

6 Stories

The Job Sometimes 'Hurt Her Soul.' On Tuesday, It Killed Her

Department of Children and Family Services investigator killed while checking on kids

(Newser) - Deidre Silas went to a home in Thayer, Ill., to check on a report of kids in danger. The 36-year-old Department of Children and Family Services investigator ended up dead. Police got a call about a possible stabbing and responded to the home to find Silas dead, McClatchy News reports....

Social Worker Called 911 the Day the Hart Family Died

She said she was worried children weren't being fed

(Newser) - A social worker worried about the welfare of the Hart family called 911 in Washington state the same day the family's SUV plunged off a cliff in California. The Department of Social and Health Services employee told dispatchers in the March 26 call that she was requesting a welfare...

Social Workers Charged After Abused Boy Beaten to Death

They should have done something to stop it, prosecutors say

(Newser) - In what the Los Angeles Times describes as a "rare" move, social workers have been charged with a crime following the death of a child. Gabriel Fernandez, 8, died in Palmdale in 2013 after his mother and her boyfriend allegedly tortured him—pepper spraying him, making him eat his...

Child Services Probed Octuplet Mom

Police have visited home eight times; family plans to move

(Newser) - A pre-octuplets Nadya Suleman was investigated by LA’s Department of Children and Family Services, TMZ reports—and cops have been called to her last two homes eight times for reasons ranging from a missing child to a feared break-in. DCFS visited the home in July after a neighbor complained...

Judge Sends Kids Back to Polygamist Parents

They must remain in Texas, take classes and steer clear of investigators

(Newser) - A Texas judge ordered more than 400 children returned to their polygamist parents today, the AP reports. Parents could begin picking up their children at 10 this morning, but were ordered not to leave the state or interfere with ongoing child-abuse investigations.

NIU Shooter Saw Himself as Sensitive Victim

Kazmierczak's essays trace path from group home to dean's list

(Newser) - Steven Kazmierczak didn’t leave a note before his deadly February shooting spree at Northern Illinois University, nor clues to his motivations on his computer or cell phone. But in essays for graduate-school applications, the Chicago Tribune reports, the future killer writes extensively about his life and his mental problems—...

6 Stories