Lawmakers: DCFS caseworkers need more protection

Posted on February 15, 2022
A little more than a month after the stabbing death of a DCFS investigator from Springfield, there’s another proposal to keep those workers safer. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – A former DCFS worker says – absolutely – caseworkers need more protection. 

A month after investigator Deidre Silas was stabbed to death, allegedly by the father of a family she was visiting in Sangamon County, lawmakers announced a bill to allow these workers to carry Mace and also provide training. 

“We walk into situations where we may be faced with someone struggling severely with a mental health issue that they cannot interact with us coherently – they are struggling so bad -or a raging meth user with a weapon,” Deanna Large told a Capitol news conference. “That Mace may give us the five or ten seconds we may need in order to escape that situation and then go back when we can be safer and serve that family.”

Right now, they’re not allowed to carry Mace. Another proposal would allow DCFS workers to carry a concealed weapon.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

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