Families SA considered the parenting skills of Chloe Valentine's drug-using teenage mother to be "good enough" despite evidence of neglect, an inquest has heard.
Chloe was four years old when she died of massive head injuries in January 2012 after being forced to ride a motorbike and repeatedly crashed over a three-day period in her Adelaide backyard.
An inquest into the girl's death has heard her short life was marred by horrific squalor and chronic neglect but she was never removed from her mother, Ashlee Polkinghorne.
Social worker Leanne Stewart told the inquest on Wednesday she believed 18-month-old Chloe was receiving "good enough" care in early 2009, despite substantial evidence of neglect and multiple child abuse notifications, when her mother was 17.
Chloe's teenage mother allowed the 18-month-old to be supervised by other teenagers for extended periods, despite being warned by Ms Stewart that this was not acceptable.
Family members, including Polkinghorne's father, raised alarms about infant Chloe's safety and told agencies they would be happy to take care of the girl if she was removed from her mother.
But Ms Stewart believed some of the allegations may have been malicious or exaggerated because there was "frequent conflict" in Polkinghorne's family relationships.
Polkinghorne was "just a teenager" and found it difficult to prioritise tasks such as cleaning her often rubbish-strewn house, Ms Stewart said.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Naomi Kereru, questioned why Ms Stewart was excusing Polkinghorne's behaviour, saying her obligation was to protect infant Chloe.
"She was a teenager with a baby," Ms Kereru said.
"You're there to protect the baby, not make excuses for the mother, aren't you?"
"That's what you just did."
Ms Stewart denied that she was reluctant to act on the child abuse allegations, saying it took time for parents such as Polkinghorne to make sustained changes.
Polkinghorne, now 22, and a later partner, Benjamin McPartland, 28, were jailed this year over Chloe's death after pleading guilty to manslaughter through criminal neglect.
The inquest continues.
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