SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch says the state’s child-welfare caseworkers need to be treated like frontline emergency responders after a Department of Children and Family Services investigator was killed last week during a home visit, the second such tragedy in four-and-a-half years.
The Hillside Democrat made the remarks Monday in an interview marking his first year in office. Deidre Silas was stabbed to death during a home visit last week.
That’s prompted calls for tougher penalties on people who harm caseworkers. And the agency’s ongoing problem with placing children in permanent homes is the genesis for legislation creating more oversight.
