DCS gets approval to add more beds for kids in state custody, but not without being told to think bigger in the future

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services got approval to add 72 more beds for housing juvenile inmates. And they plan to ask for 500 more next session. But some lawmakers think they will need even more.  

Juvenile arrests increased by 30% from 2020 to 2021, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations. DCS Commissioner Margie Quin says the facilities that house those individuals are full.

“On any given day, we have between 65 and 75 youth waiting in detention centers across the state,” Quin said.

That doesn’t include 134 kids awaiting trial in Shelby County.

To get ahead of the problem, Quin let lawmakers know she plans to ask for funding to create 500 additional beds. But House Speaker Cameron Sexton thinks that number should be higher.

“I would like to see the plan of us looking further down the road and saying, ‘We project, in 2050, we need this many beds.’ Why are we waiting until 2045 to build that if we know we need that?” Sexton said.

Sexton estimates they will need around 2,000 additional beds.

In December, Disability Rights Tennessee and the Youth Law Center recommended the state focus money on reforming juveniles rather than simply expanding facilities.