An internal inspection by the Chamber of Social Workers which probed the case of a family whose two-year-old child had died of injuries in the town of Nova Gradiska found "no professional mistakes" adding that the worker in question had "acted in line with professional protocols," Croatia's state agency Hina reported on Friday.

The “expert evaluation” of the work of the social worker showed that “she did not make mistakes or omissions which could have been conducive to the lethal outcome.”

In the most recent case which caused public outcry over social care services, a two-year-old girl died due to injuries presumably suffered in a beating by her biological mother. The child had been admitted to a Zagreb-based hospital in very serious condition, and despite the efforts of the hospital’s staff during her treatment, she succumbed to the injuries. The mother was later charged with grievous bodily harm.

The girl had been taken out of the family and given to a foster family, but on order of the social worker assigned to the case she was later returned to her biological family.

Following her death, the Ministry for Social Care ordered an “expert evaluation” of the work of the social welfare center in Nova Gradiska.

On 19 April, the Croatian Psychological Chamber said that an inspection at that center showed that the psychologists in charge of the case acted “in line with professional standards and measures defined by that center,” meaning that the tragedy was not the psychologist’s fault.

In the period when the violent death happened, the relevant social worker was in self-isolation due to coronavirus, Hina reported.

The child and her family had been supervised by the social welfare center in Nova Gradiska since 2017.