BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland is beefing up security at state social services offices.

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The move comes after the stabbing of an infant girl, allegedly by her mother, during a supervised visit last spring to the Baltimore Department of Social Services.

State Human Resources Secretary Theodore Dallas tells The Baltimore Sun that the state has taken steps to improve security, including installing lockers in family meeting rooms and doing mandatory bag searches.

The department's also putting panic buttons into family meeting rooms.

The attack occurred last April, when authorities say Kenisha Thomas stabbed her then-8-month-old child multiple times with a kitchen knife that she had apparently snuck into the building.

Thomas is awaiting trial on multiple charges, and her daughter is now in what Dallas calls a "loving and safe home."

Information from: http://www.baltimoresun.com