Does Tennessee have enough bed space for justice-involved youth? That’s the question lawmakers ordered TACIR to study.
As Nashville thaws, fears over immigration enforcement remain
As a historic winter storm devastated Tennessee, the fight over immigration continued to play out at the statehouse and in Nashville’s streets.
Tennessee’s foster care kids who ‘age out’ face high rates of homelessness, addiction and incarceration, study finds
A new report from Belmont Innovation Labs has found that foster youth are suffering once they age out of the system.
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.
Report: Child abuse and neglect are costing Tennessee billions of dollars a year
Abuse and neglect take an enormous emotional toll on children across Tennessee. Now, a new report estimates the economic impact of child abuse, and finds it’s costing the state billions of dollars each year.
A top Republican pauses Gov. Bill Lee’s attempt to disband the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth
A bill, which seemed to be retaliatory, would’ve dissolved a commission made to audit the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. The idea came straight from the governor’s office, but it is no longer being pursued.
Tennessee Democrats demand DCS release children taken from Black family after a traffic stop
Tennessee Democrats are demanding the state’s Department of Children’s Services return five Black children taken from their parents following a traffic stop in Coffee County last month, the details of which quickly went viral after the Tennessee Lookout first reported the story on Thursday.
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services says fewer children are sleeping in its offices
The Department of Children’s Services commissioner gave an update to the legislature that showed improvements to the troubled system.
Child welfare advocates ask DCS to look to previous federal oversight for a path forward
Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services could stand to revisit federal oversight that lifted in 2017, say child welfare advocates and legal experts. The court settlement known as “Brian A” required that the state spend money on critical improvements, like having enough case managers so they didn’t handle more than 20 children at a time.
‘It’s been a never-ending cycle’: Inside the confusion and heartache of one family’s experience with Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services
Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services is struggling — from shortages of case workers to lack of appropriate foster placements. So what impact do those problems have on the children this system is meant to serve?
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