Not Doing Their Job
I hasten to report the worst case of negligence by San Diego social agencies, which ended in the death of a mother and her three children when she committed suicide and burned her home down. (“Suicide-Murder Suspected in San Diego Fire,” March 21).
What does a woman have to do to let trained social workers know that she is desperate in her despondency?
She had been despondent since early March and threatened suicide to her husband.
The Navy chaplain was sufficiently concerned to contact the city’s Children’s Service and Abuse Line--they never opened the file! They did not believe there was any threat to the children’s safety.
Can all these people who passed the buck sleep not knowing they all played a part in the mother’s final solution?
What do these people know of social work, despondency?
Did they want the mother to hold a gun to herself--to show how sick she was?
I fear for the many people and families who need understanding people to serve them.
The Navy could have called the husband home--they too had a responsibility in this case.
Who will discipline these people who are not qualified to hold the jobs for which they are paid?
R.M. ISENBERG
La Jolla
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