By Brittany Duggins
A recent Kentucky death has social workers and students at the University of Louisville Kent School worried about home visits.
Social worker Boni Frederick was recently killed by blunt-force trauma and multiple lacerations while supervising a visit in a client’s home. Frederick, 67, worked for the Kentucky State Cabinet for Health and Family Services for the last 15 years. She was the first social worker killed in Kentucky since 1987.
At the time of the murder, Fredrick was in the home of Renee Terrell. Terrell, 33, had recently learned her nine-month-old son, Saige, would be put up for adoption. Due to charges of neglect, Saige has been in foster care since he was 13 days old. Reports said Terrell told friends she planned to take her son to New Mexico.
She purchased a crib, clothes and toys for her son, apparently hoping to regain custody, but news of the adoption shattered Terrell’s dreams.
Three days after Fredrick’s body was discovered, FBI issued warrants on both Terrell and her boyfriend, Christopher Wayne Luttrell. Luttrell, 23, also had warrants in Jefferson County for burglary and parole violation. Terrell’s criminal history included charges of child abuse, assault and endangering welfare of a minor.
The couple was found in Illinois, about 35 miles north of St. Louis. They were hiding out in a camper, after the car they stole from Frederick had broken down. Police tracked them down due to video footage at a gas station and the use of Frederick’s credit card. Luttrell then told police he killed Frederick.
Louisville social worker Sky Tanghe said there is no area that is completely safe when removing a child, but that doing so in a parents’ home is not standard procedure.
“Bringing Saige to his mother’s home deviates from typical visitation arrangements, usually conducted in the social worker’s office,” she said.
The emphasis on social worker safety, which has always been a concern, is suddenly in the spotlight. It is common to meet in the home of the client, and police officers can’t feasibly accompany a social worker every time they conduct a home visitation.
However, Fredrick’s murder has some wondering whether a policy should be enacted to offer additional protection for social workers.
“Yes, there should be more protection for social workers but in some cases no matter where the worker lives bad things can happen,” said Erin Kennedy, Kent School Student Association President.
“Social workers put their lives on the line everyday entering dangerous homes to protect children and families. Having a social worker injured during one of these visits is not something that happens often.”
Allison Nadlehaft, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Social Workers in Washington D.C. said, “Caseloads are very high, and with diminished resources, their jobs become that much more dangerous.”
NASW also reported that of nearly 100,000 social workers questioned, 44 percent have been the target of some sort of violence. The child welfare system does not have the resources to meet the needs of increasing caseloads of abused and neglected children, and it seems as a result, the social workers’ safety is at stake.
In response to Frederick’s murder, Kent School administration increased the emphasis placed on safety.
“We published safety tips on our Web site for all our students, the faculty made a special effort to discuss safety issues in the classroom,” said Anna Faul, PhD., Associate Dean Academic Affairs of the Kent School of Social Work.
“Lastly, our Dean became part of a task force looking at an appropriate response from the Cabinet related to this incident,” she said. The Cabinet initiated the task force.
Faul said it is important to realize that home visits are part of a social worker’s job requirements.
“The social work aid that was murdered took the child to the mother for a visit, in most instances a type of visit where violence is not expected,” Faul said. “I think that was what made this incident even more shocking.”
