Supervisor defends decision to close file on Manitoba girl who was later killed

WINNIPEG – A social work supervisor is defending her decision to close the file on a Manitoba girl who was later beaten to death.

Diva Faria (DEE’-vah FAIR’-ee-ah) told the inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair that workers were dealing with an unspecified allegation that the girl was being abused.

Faria also says she trusted the judgment of the two workers who spoke with Phoenix’s mother and left without seeing the girl.

Phoenix Sinclair was beaten to death by her mother and mother’s boyfriend in 2005, after spending much of her life in the child welfare system and being handed back to her mother.

Three months before the killing, two social workers went to the family’s apartment building after getting a tip that Phoenix was being abused.

They spoke with the mother in the hallway, never looked at the home or at Phoenix, and recommended that the case be closed.