DCS: Case worker response based on proximity, not gender

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -

On Tuesday, ABC57 spoke with a mother who was angry a male DCS case worker responded to her home and wanted to take a photo of her child's nude backside. Many viewers have been wondering why a male case worker responded to take photos of a young girl.

ABC57 spoke with DCS on Wednesday and James Pippin, the manager of District 3 which includes St. Joseph County said it comes down to logistics.

When his office gets a call to investigate an immediate child abuse inquiry, they send the closest case manager.

“There is no policy saying that if the alleged victim is a female that we need to send a female, that if there’s a male we need to send a male. In my mind there’s kind of a good reason for it. St. Joe County is one of the bigger counties in the state of Indiana," said Pippin.

Pippin wasn't allowed to speak about the video or the case specifically.

He says it isn't feasible for the agency to have a policy of having males respond to cases about male children or female case workers respond to cases about female children.

“There are a lot of small counties that may only have one or two and they both may be female, they both may be male, so if the policy was that only a female can take a picture of a female and there’s no females in the office, then we’ve got a delay in our response," said Pippin.

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