Metro East Sun

Illinois lawmakers are working to give social workers for the Department of Childhood and Family Services better protections by introducing legislation that would make it a Class 1 felony offense for anyone who causes harm, permanent disability, or disfigurement to a DCFS employee. 

The legislation, known as the Knight-Silas Bill, is named after Deidre Silas and Pam Knight who were both DCFS employees that were killed on the job. 

"We have to make it clear that we will not tolerate any kind of violence against the people who are working to protect kids and families," state Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) told WIFR. "I am proud to be a chief co-sponsor of this legislation, as I was not to be a chief co-sponsor of similar legislation in the past. I am hopeful that we can finally advance this idea, particularly to honor the memory of Deidre Silas and her public service to our state's most vulnerable children and families."

According to WSILTV, the legislation would give DCFS workers equal protection as firefighters, police officers, corrections officers, and private security employees. 

Gov. J.B. Prtizker (D-IL) has come out in support of the legislation and announced his position on it just days after Silas, a DCFS employee, was brutally stabbed and killed during a home visit in Thayer, WQAD reported. Benjamin Reed has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in connection to Silas' death. Back in September of 2017, Pam Knight, a DCFS worker in Whiteside County, was beaten during a welfare check. She died of her injuries months later. Andrew Sucher, Knight's killer, signed a plea agreement and is serving more than two decades behind bars without parole. 

Senate Bill 3070, as introduced, would make changes to penalties involving DCFS victims, meaning the level of the charge would no longer depend on how bad a DCFS employee was hurt, but the person's status as a DCFS employee would elevate it, News Channel 20 reported.