UPDATE: DCYF union workers vote “no confidence” in director following girl’s death

January 29, 2019 5:48 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – During a union meeting Wednesday night, hundreds of employees for the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) voted “no confidence” in their director in response to the fallout surrounding a girl who died in Warwick.

Kathy McElroy feels DCYF Director Trista Piccola mishandled the situation by putting one worker on administrative leave and three others on limited duty. “We’re disciplining people without all the facts,” she explained, saying those people may have been following orders from higher-ups.

McElroy feels the DCYF needs to increase its staffing structure due to caseloads, while a DCYF spokesperson argues the agency is fully-staffed – though this is at the department’s current structure.

“I think the input needs to come from the workers and I think that’s where administration has been short-sighted,” McElroy explained.

Last January, the DCYF investigated the nine-year-old victim’s adoptive mother, Michele Rothgeb, for lack of supervision. Then, earlier this month, police found the victim and seven other children living in squalor.

The last time the DCYF was at Rothgeb’s home was June or July, when the adoption of one of the children was finalized.

“It’s always front-line staff that gets blamed when things go wrong,” McElroy said. “That was not a case that was currently open to the department.”

Now, McElroy is calling on union members to meet up and speak up Wednesday night, to discuss their issues, concerns, and “plan out next steps.”

As for whether union members will decide to vote “no confidence” in Piccola, McElroy said: “I think that it’s a distinct possibility that it will at least come up for a discussion.”

Piccola sent the following statement statement:

“Every single employee at DCYF is responsible for child safety and child protection. The Department of Administration is conducting an investigation, and DCYF is conducting its own internal review that will help us understand all of the decisions that were made on this case at every level—from frontline workers to management. Following the outcome of these reviews, I am prepared to take additional action if necessary.”