Maine’s social worker licensure board revoked the license of a caseworker who placed a 4-year-old girl in a home where she was murdered.
The Portland Press Herald reports it has obtained an August decision from the state Board of Social Worker Licensure that concluded Heather Campbell “exhibited gross negligence, incompetence, or misconduct.” Campbell said she is being scapegoated for the death of the girl, Kendall Chick.
[Maine 4-year-old suffered as many as 20 head injuries, prosecutor says]
The board’s decision said proper background checks would have turned up assault convictions on the record of Stephen Hood, Kendall’s paternal grandfather. That could have led the state to place Kendall somewhere else.
Hood’s fiance, Shawna Gatto, was convicted in April of murdering Kendall. Gatto was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
[More than 20 Maine children have died since 2017 amid concerns about their safety]
Campbell told the Press Herald supervisors knew about Hood’s record and signed off anyway.