Utah bill would add extra protections for child welfare workers

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill making its way through the Utah Senate would help set up protections for child welfare workers in Utah.

SB68, sponsored by Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, defines and specifies crimes committed against child welfare workers and their family members. The bill was passed by the Senate last week and on Thursday was advanced through the House Judiciary Committee.

"These are very emotionally charged type situations, to have workers in a situation where they become endangered, and that the danger quite often happens in front of children," said Marlesse Jones, from the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.

Vickers said these employees work in very sensitive situations which can include taking children from their homes. In some cases these workers may be physically assaulted.

This bill follows legislation that was passed in 2019. The earlier bill from Vickers made it a class A misdemeanor to assault a child welfare worker while they are doing their work.

In many cases since that bill was passed, prosecutors wouldn't use the statute, either because the threats weren't enough or because it was unclear what crimes and threats the statute applied to, he said.

"You know, the legislation put in place probably didn't give prosecutors enough to go forward," Vickers said. "So fast forward, we looked at it again, looked at the language again, and said, 'OK, yeah, we need to do some updates.' So that's what this is."

To help resolve these issues, SB68 would separate the crimes of assaulting a child welfare worker and threatening a child welfare worker. It also specifies that these crimes include actions against child welfare workers and their families.

For the purposes of this bill, the term child welfare workers includes employees of the state Division of Child and Family Services.

During the Senate debate over the bill, Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, raised concerns over establishing a crime based on who the victim is.

The senator used the example that if a grandparent checking on a child was assaulted, the punishment would be up to six months in prison. But if a child welfare worker checking on a child was assaulted, then the punishment would be 364 days in prison.

"That disparity in treatment of punishment is something that we should take really seriously," Brammer said. "In a larger context, it's something that I think we as a body should look at to see if we're playing favorites in this, in how we enforce the law, and how we overcomplicate the law."

In response to Brammer's concerns, Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, said that because these child welfare workers are working on behalf of the state and are trained and qualified, the stakes are higher for them in these scenarios.

"While they should not be more equal than the average person, they are held to higher standards," Thatcher said. "They're not entering into these disagreeable positions for fun. They're not doing it because they just want to pick a fight with somebody; they're literally acting on behalf of the state to carry out assignments that we have given them."

There were also those who spoke in favor of adding additional protections for child welfare workers.

"I appreciate all the work that's been done to protect these workers who have to enter into these realms of stress and strife and turmoil, and it's not easy," said Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights.

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