SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A new bill in Springfield would increase penalties for people who harm Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) workers.

The measure would make committing Aggravated Battery against a DCFS worker on the job a felony. It would apply to people 21 and older.

The proposal, called the “Knight-Silas Legacy Act,” comes one year after Diedre Silas was stabbed to death while on a welfare visit.

State Senator Doris Turner, the bill’s sponsor, said that this is a protection for those workers.

“These are people that we entrust to be the spokesperson for and take care of our most vulnerable citizens, and they come into such a, you know, some horrific situations, and oftentimes you never know who’s going to be and what’s waiting for you on the other side of that door,” Turner said.

She introduced the proposal last year. It made it through the Senate, but not the House.