SPRINGFIELD (WGEM) – A new proposal in Springfield could require the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to have security members work alongside caseworkers during house visits considered dangerous.

Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) introduced the idea in response to the murders of two DCFS caseworkers over the past few years.

DCFS investigator Deidre Silas was stabbed to death during a house visit in January. Caseworker Pam Knight was murdered by a child’s father on Sept. 29, 2017.

Hunter’s bill calls for a DCFS Child Protection Security Force that can be called into action if there is a possibility of non-cooperation or violence by family, friends, or others who try to disrupt the removal or review of a child’s protection.

She told the Senate Public Safety Committee Tuesday that many former DCFS workers were assaulted on the job and it’s past time to have more protection.

“I’ve had conversations with previous DCFS directors and previous governors,” Hunter said. “And nothing is being done about it.”

Hunter’s proposal says DCFS should work with Illinois State Police to adopt and amend any rules to create the security force. She explained that DCFS and ISP want to offer language to help make a stronger bill. Hunter said she is willing to make necessary changes to incorporate that language.

There were, however, 23 witness slips filed in opposition to the legislation. The Institutional Reform Project director at the ACLU of Illinois, Heidi Dalenberg, said her organization shares the same goal of improving worker safety. Although, she argued this bill is not the right path to achieve the goal.

Dalenberg said a group of stakeholders has worked on a separate set of bills to improve safety training for DCFS caseworkers, use better strategies to predict when households might be dangerous for employees to enter, and improve support for any workers who ask for someone to accompany them for potentially-dangerous house visits.

She noted in written testimony to the committee that caseworkers currently face challenges when they reach out to local law enforcement for help visiting homes as it might not be a top priority for that department. Her coalition feels this problem can’t be solved by creating a security force within the state agency.

“When a child protection worker has concerns about visiting a site, the most appropriate person to accompany the worker is another child protection staff member who is prepared to engage with the family as a social worker, and who is properly trained in de-escalation and other non-confrontational techniques,” Dalenberg said. “That is not the type of support that the ‘security force’ officers described in Senate Bill 3732 would provide.”

Dalenberg also said the proposal’s language currently allows DCFS to define the training for the security workers with oversight from state police. She emphasized that DCFS has no expertise in law enforcement or defining how officers should help during a child protection investigation.

She also said it is impossible to determine whether Hunter’s plan is overbroad in identifying situations where the security force could be used. Dalenberg explained it is difficult to conceive of any DCFS investigation that doesn’t present the possibility of “non-cooperation or violence” by someone present during a home visit.

“This is not a political stunt for me,” Hunter said. “I’m concerned about the well-being and safety of these workers.”

Hunter also asked those filing witness slips in opposition to come forward and talk with her as the bill moves forward.

The bill passed unanimously out of the Public Safety Committee and heads to the Senate floor for a second reading. Senators Dale Fowler (R-Harrisburg), Neil Anderson (R-Moline), Sally Turner (R-Lincoln), and Steve McClure (R-Springfield) have joined Hunter as co-sponsors of the bill.

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