How a Yorkville nonprofit organizer inspired the Child Abuse Notice Act into state law

Colleen Murphy found it fortunate when she happened to drive past her local state representative’s office with her self-designed child safety posters sitting in the back of her car. The Yorkville resident knew if she could muster the courage to pitch her idea, her posters, illustrating to children how to seek help if they are victims of sexual abuse, could reach a greater audience to help those in need.

Little did Murphy know, her efforts would lead to a full state government floor debate before passing both chambers to become state law.

After being signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, the Child Abuse Notice Act took effect in Illinois with a string of other new state laws on Jan. 1. The law requires establishments frequented by minors, such as day care centers, elementary and secondary schools, bus stations, hospital emergency rooms, entertainment and sporting facilities and hotels and motels to display in their bathrooms multi-lingual informative posters designed by the Department of Children and Family Services.

The posters must be understandable for minors of all ages and provide information on what constitutes physical and sexual abuse and how to report it. While most establishments are imposed with certain penalties for not displaying the posters, the congressional floor debate led to an amendment exempting schools and day cares from the penalty provision.

Murphy, the owner of Shear Salon in Yorkville, said she was inspired into action after hearing over the years from her customers how prevalent abuse is.

“I remember the first time a client shared with me their shocking truth of being abused at home, I was afraid I might say the wrong things and hurt them further,” Murphy said. “Those are the kind of moments that have fueled my determination to fight for change and save our kids. To learn while working with the public that sexual abuse is a huge problem for children everywhere, including in our community, is not an easy problem to tackle.”

Murphy founded the nonprofit, “My Body Tells the Truth,” focusing on sexual abuse prevention education for children. Through her nonprofit, Murphy offers age-appropriate designed posters for the public. The law requires DCFS to distribute their own posters within the next six months. Murphy hopes they take inspiration from her posters.

“There’s a need to support victims who might be facing abuse without even knowing there’s a problem or a way to seek help,” Murphy said. “There’s not enough prevention work being done and often victims do not recognize what happened to them until they are much older. It’s often 20-30 years before a victim speaks out, if ever. The goal is to help the youngest generation know they’re never alone..”

Murphy pitched her poster idea to state Rep. Jed Davis, R-Yorkville, who said as a foster parent who frequently heard stories of kids caught in horrific situations, was proud to co-sponsor the legislation.

“Murphy’s approach was very unique when she came in, she made some really valid points that we train adults to watch for signs of child abuse and trafficking, but we’re not talking directly to the victims,” Davis said. “With her organization, Murphy created posters we can show to any age group to let them know what is happening to them is wrong and how to get help. There’s no parent that would say kid’s shouldn’t see this. It approaches the topic that can be hard to talk about, but in a way that communicates it well.”

Davis said Murphy did a tremendous job testifying during the committee to help the bill reach the state house floor.

Davis said the biggest challenges was figuring out where the posters should be placed and who should be required to display them. He said he worked closely with the Illinois State Police to identify the most strategic places for the posters to ensure they reach the most vulnerable children.

The key to winning bipartisan support was providing amendments to exclude schools and day cares from the penalty provision. On the house floor, Davis also won over more bipartisan support by citing the successes of similar state legislation in Oregon that resulted in more kids reporting abuse.

The bill originally passed the House 87-2 on April 15. It was co-sponsored in the Illinois Senate by state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, before being amended to include entertainment and sporting facilities, and passing unopposed on May 24. Once back in the House with the amendment the bill passed unopposed on May 24. The governor signed the legislation on Aug. 9.

“I always say, what you expect to happen usually doesn’t, I was thrilled to have it even reach the floor and even more ecstatic when it passed,” Davis said. “I think around 95% of the bills we sponsor are from people like Murphy walking into our office needing help or having an idea on how to help an issue.”

Murphy said once some lawmakers got over their hesitancy that the posters could lead to false accusations, it was a remarkable thing to watch legislators cross the aisle to the support the bill.

She said when the bill was finally passed into law she felt relief that the legislation can actually begin to touch peoples’ lives.

“You do not have to be anybody special or famous to have your voice heard, you just have to have passion and willingness to make it work,” Murphy said. “You have to find the right people with a larger microphone to amplify your voice. Do not make excuses for yourself, you can make the world a better place.”