Image: Department Commissioner Margie Quin Image Credit: Tennessee Department of Children’s Services / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Last week, ten children with extra support needs in the custody of Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services (DCS) were placed in DCS offices instead of with families or in an appropriate facility.
When knowledge of the practice was made known four years ago, it was met with outrage from the public and legislators, but despite promises to put an end to children having to sleep in offices instead of homes, and extra funding from the state, the practice persists.
Department Commissioner Margie Quin who took charge of Tennessee’s DCS in 2022 recently faced pointed questions from lawmakers on the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee as part of a scheduled review of the agency.
Quin insisted that the children and teens staying in offices are receiving similar care to other children taken into state custody but that those with juvenile violations or with higher medical and behavioral needs take longer to assess for appropriate placement.
While at an office, the children or youths are provided with daily showers, taken to school, see behavioral health specialists, and are overseen by case managers, sometimes with security in addition.
DCS says that it is because this cohort of minors cannot be safely placed with other children that they have been forced to house them in their offices. There is a shortage across the state of families and facilities that are equipped to handle children with needs of a more intense nature than is typical and some residential facilities will turn away children with some behavioral challenges or pending juvenile charges. Since housing children in hotels or other short-term rentals are not permitted, they are ending up in offices.
Circumstances regarding where these minors are sleeping in the offices has improved from four years ago when it was discovered that children were sleeping on floors with no bedding, blankets, or pillows.
In order to make a permanent end to the practice of office stays, DCS is working to open specialized facilities designed to take children with higher support needs, but there is no exact date for when this expansion of treatment capacity will begin operations and make office placements a thing of the past.
Quin has said that well it is unfortunate that these children and youth are not placed in a home-like environment from the start, that it is only a small number of minors that are affected.
When lawmakers asked for data during their meeting on the number of minors having to stay in offices, it was not made available immediately. One lawmaker also wants to know how many sexual assaults have taken place in offices, as well as temporary homes being run by churches and other nonprofits.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
