Social-workers union considers no-confidence vote in DCYF director

Unionized state social workers, upset that the head of the Department of Children, Youth and Families disciplined four co-workers following the death of a 9-year-old Warwick girl, are meeting Wednesday and may take a no-confidence vote in Director Trista Piccola, says the union president.

“They’re scared, they’re angry,” said Kathy McElroy of her membership. “They feel this director doesn’t have their back.”

Two weeks ago, Piccola placed one DCYF worker on administrative leave and three others on limited duty following the Jan. 3 death of Zah-Nae Rothgeb, one of eight special-needs children living in squalid conditions, police say, in the home of Michele Rothgeb.

McElroy said Piccola was “throwing front-line workers under the bus” rather than discipline an administrator who allowed Rothgeb to have so many children under one roof — despite at least one social worker raising concerns “that this mom was overwhelmed with so many children.”

Read more: https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190128/social-workers-union-considers-no-confidence-vote-in-dcyf-director