Case Worker Fired in case of death of Linda Padilla

Galveston County Children's Protective Services has fired the caseworker who dismissed a call that reported a bruise under the eye of 2-year-old Linda Padilla. Some background on the Texas case.

A pizza delivery man called an abuse hotline after noticing a bruise under the eye of the 2- year-old at a League City apartment on June 8. The call was taken by the unnamed hotline worker and marked "informational/referral" instead of "abuse and neglect." Padilla was taken to Christus St. John hospital in Nassau Bay on Aug. 8 with a skull fracture, black eyes, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, brain swelling and tears in her rectum and vagina. She died on Aug. 13 after being taken off life support.

The story goes on at some length to detail the extensive qualifications of the staff in Galveston County:

The 222 caseworkers and 31 supervisors who staff the hotline have at least a bachelor's degree, usually in psychology or social work, if not a master's degree in social work. "We subsidize their (master's in social work) through our stipend program," said Olguin. Intake workers, the ones who take calls and reports, undergo six weeks of classroom and on-the-job training. Senior workers then mentor the new one and listen to the telephone conversations and judge how calls are assessed, classified and routed.

It sounds like they do protest too much, and are trying to sell people on their qualifications.

When these might be lacking, despite all of the fancy diplomas and titles.