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Social workers' field safety remains concerned after killing

Stabbing Death-Child Welfare Worker
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
John O'Connor/AP
Marc Smith, director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, discusses the stabbing death of state child welfare worker Diedre Silas during a news conference, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in Springfield, Ill. Silas, 36, was conducting a visit Tuesday, Jan. 4, on a home in Thayer, south of Springfield, when she was stabbed. A man living in the home, 32-year-old Benjamin H. Reed, faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery and unlawful restraint. He is being held in the Sangamon County Jail on $5 million bond. (AP Photo/John O'Connor)
Stabbing Death-Child Welfare Worker
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois officials are seeking answers after the killing last week of a state child welfare worker during a home visit — the second such tragedy to occur in less than five years.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigator Deidre Silas was stabbed to death last Tuesday when she responded to a call of possible endangerment of children in a home in the central Illinois town of Thayer. Silas' death follows the 2017 fatal beating of Pamela McKnight under similar circumstances.

Advocates say sending caseworkers in pairs or with police backup would provide better safety.

But it also stretches an already thin workforce.

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Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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