Latest news with #DepartmentofChildren'sServices
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
State investigators visited Richard L. Bean Juvenile Detention Center in April
Investigators with the state's watchdog agency conducted interviews at the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Detention Center on April 7, Knox News has learned. Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury investigators talked to the facility's only nurse, Stefani Clowers, for an hour and a half that day. One month later, Bean, the superintendent of the facility named for him, gave Clowers a choice: Resign or be fired for "turning him in," she told Knox News. Clowers, a registered nurse, sounded alarms that facility leaders failed to follow medical best practices. She told Knox News she contacted six local and state agencies about errors in medication distribution and several instances where she felt children's lives were in danger. She repeatedly raised concerns to Bean and his lieutenant, Kay McClain, she said. Clowers refused to resign, was fired and then reinstated a day later under pressure from Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin, who warned Bean his dismissals of Clowers and information technology specialists Thomas Cordell exposed the county to potential lawsuits that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cordell also took the offer for reinstatement. Medication intended for the juveniles incarcerated at the facility regularly went missing, Clowers told Knox News, especially when she returned to work on Mondays after being away for the weekend. An entire bottle of Qelbree, a nonstimulant used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, was stolen, she said. Two types of medication belonging to another juvenile went missing for almost a month before showing up unused. "Mom brought them in as new meds on Oct. 4 and then they showed up on (Oct. 27) with the original receipt that she had brought them in on Oct. 4," Clowers said. "I reached out to the worker and verified they were brought in on the 4th. Where'd they go? They disappeared for 23 days." One time, in early 2024 when a tablet of hydrocodone prescribed for a juvenile went missing, Bean and McClain simply thanked Clowers for informing them, Clowers said. Hydrocone is a semisynthetic opioid that can be habit forming and its distribution is rigorously regulated by medical professionals. Before state watchdog investigators came to the facility April 7, no one followed up on Clowers' concerns, she said. Bean and McClain repeatedly ignored requests from Clowers to create a uniform medical protocol. "You can't say, 'There's going to be accountability here, but we're not going to have accountability here,'" Clowers said. Separate from the comptroller's inquiries, Jacobs asked Gov. Bill Lee on May 29 to direct the Department of Children's Services to take over operations at the facility. The move would buy time for the county to shift legal control to the Knox County Sheriff's Office, and the Knox County Commission will consider at its June 23 meeting an emergency measure to do so. Bean announced his retirement May 30 in a press release. Trustee Board member Billy Stokes said Bean told the chair of the facility's board of trustees that a "loss of confidence" in his administration "hastened his intent to retire." Clowers said she was confused when investigators arrived at the center. It's not like "comptroller of the treasury" is a widely known agency, she said. Ten investigators spent most of the day at the detention center, Clowers said, and Bean gave them a tour. Besides the time investigators spent interviewing her and the center's Prison Rape Elimination Act specialist, they spent most of their time in the administrative part of the building. Investigators asked Clowers about patients' medical charts, if there were specific cases they should examine, and how day-to-day operations such as recordkeeping and patient checkups were handled. When Bean fired Clowers, she said he referenced her cooperation with state investigators. Clowers worried about the safety of the children and teens in the center's care (the facility holds juveniles from the ages of 12-17). When children arrived at the detention center, they didn't go through a medical intake process. Those who came to the detention center through the Department of Children's Services arrived with a packet of medical information, Clowers said, but not those who were brought in by local police. Clowers told Knox News that only McClain, Bean's lieutenant, had access the medical packets from Department of Children's Services detainees. The only way Clowers could treat a detainee was if the child initiated a request through a handwritten request that was left in an unsecured basket. Bean, 84, has been the superintendent of the detention center since 1972. He's known for his old-fashioned way of running the center. Day-to-day operations are archaic, Clowers said. There's no buildingwide medical protocol, Clowers told Knox News. Hours worked are tracked through punch cards, and when Clowers requested time off, she filled out a form and left it in a basket. "You just take the day off and then you get the slip of paper back later," Clowers said. In her absence, no qualified medical staffers stepped in to treat juveniles, she said. A corrections officer fills in. "It's just so archaic, it's hard to explain to someone else," Clowers said. Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: State investigators visited Richard L. Bean Juvenile Detention Center
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Governor Lee signs Savannah Grace Copeland Act aimed at increasing funding for child advocacy
POWELL, Tenn. (WATE) — Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the Savannah Grace Copeland Act on Wednesday May 21, seeking to increase state funding for child advocacy. The act requires that if the state's general fund grows by at least one percent, the state has to increase the funding for the contracts of child advocacy centers in each judicial district by three percent. Gov. Lee signs 'Savanna's Law,' creating habitual domestic violence offender registry and honoring Robertson Co. deputy It additionally says that the Department of Children's Services has to increase contracts for child advocacy centers to a base rate of $127,855.98 and forensic child interviewer contracts to a base of $85,000 per contracted interviewer. Finally, the bill would require the funds given to the advocacy centers to be used according to a specific formula. The bill is named after a 13-year-old Powell girl who was murdered in October 2024. Her father has encouraged the legislature to work on increasing access to mental health. Tennessee bail bond agents warn of scammers posing as legitimate agents The bill passed the House and Senate earlier this year and is scheduled to go into effect on July 1. 6 News' Lori Tucker and Attorney Greg Isaacs discussed the bill in April. Copeland's father also spoke to 6 News after his daughter's death. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Lawsuit: ‘Tennessee's foster care system is failing children it is intended to protect'
Margie Quin, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, is now named as a defendant in two proposed class action lawsuits alleging DCS warehouses and mistreats children (Photo: John Partipilo) Foster kids in Tennessee are being denied the basic right to education, healthcare and stable homes and instead kept in unsafe institutions or bounced through multiple foster families for years at time, a lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of 13 children alleges. The lawsuit, spearheaded by a national team of child welfare attorneys, is seeking court approval for class action status in order to represent all 9000 children in the state's foster care system. It alleges that the Department of Children's Services (DCS) has persistently violated children's constitutional rights and federal law, including Americans with Disabilities Act protections for kids with disabilities. The suit seeks a sweeping court order forcing the agency to comply. 'Tennessee's foster care system is failing children it is intended to protect,' said the lawsuit, filed Monday in a Nashville federal court. DCS 'warehouses children in spaces which lack the basic necessities of life, including adequate food, bedding, soap and potable water,' the legal filings said. Kids fortunate enough to get a spot in a foster home, instead of an institution, are 'moved from place to place without the opportunity for a stable childhood,' it said. A DCS spokesperson referred a request for comment about the suit to the Tennessee Attorney General's office, which declined to comment. It is the second class action lawsuit filed in recent months against DCS alleging gross mistreatment of children the agency is mandated to protect. Class action complaint accuses Tennessee Department of Children's Services of abusing disabled kids DCS operates with more than $1.2 billion in state and federal funding annually to oversee two main areas of responsibility. The first focuses on child abuse and neglect. The agency investigates allegations of abuse, oversees the state's foster care system and provides services that help keep struggling families together. The second is juvenile justice programs. The agency houses youth who have gotten tangled up with the state's juvenile justice system for offenses that range from missing school to committing crimes. While Monday's lawsuit focuses on the actions or inactions by DCS in caring for children who have been abused or neglected, a class action lawsuit filed last year alleges a series of failures that have harmed kids with disabilities tangled up in DCS's juvenile justice system. That suit remains ongoing. Both lawsuits seek court-ordered changes to the way DCS operates. Monday's 74-page lawsuit details the unstable lives of multiple children who have been in DCS custody for years. Among them is 15-year-old 'Darnell,' a pseudonym used in court filings to protect the teen's privacy. At eight years old, Darnell made his way to a fire station for help after being struck in the face then abandoned on the side of a road by his mother. DCS took custody. In the eight years since that day, Darnell has been placed in at least 14 different settings. Darnell has spent half of his childhood in institutions that his DCS caseworkers acknowledge were unsuitable for his needs. Those institutions fail to provide even basic necessities to children living under their roofs. Living in limbo: DCS places kids indefinitely in group homes awaiting 'evaluations' 'His (appointed legal advocate) offered to buy him a Christmas present and asked what he wanted. The only thing Darnell wanted was his 'own deodorant stick,'' the lawsuit noted. Darnell struggled academically, but DCS failed to get him educational testing or advocate for individualized education plans to provide him extra in-school help. Instead, during one four-month stint outside of an institution, DCS falsely promised foster parents hoping to adopt Darnell that he was a 'straight A student.' When Darnell instead struggled in school and acted out at home, the family cited a lack of information and support from DCS in ending the foster care arrangement. Darnell's former legal guardian continues to supply him with clothing and hygiene products inside the institution where he currently lives. The guardian has undergone all required training to become his foster parent. Despite her persistence in advocating Darnell come home with her, he remains in an institution where, he told juvenile court officials earlier this year, he feels unsafe. The lives of other children in DCS custody detailed in the lawsuit include prolonged separation from siblings, sexual abuse, the use of inappropriate restraints and lengthy stays in temporary settings intended to house children for no more than 30 days. Children in DCS care are 'deteriorating physically, psychologically, emotionally and educationally,' the lawsuit said. DCS seeks $189M in new funding with plans to target rural counties with high foster care rates The agency has come under public scrutiny in recent years as reports emerged of children sleeping on state office floors due to a lack of a suitable foster home beds, allegations of sexual abuse in privately run institutions, caseworkers struggling with impossible caseloads and rampant turnover among disillusioned employees. In response, Gov. Bill Lee and state lawmakers appropriated significant additional funding for the agency in 2023 to hire and train caseworkers, contract with private companies to provide institutional and foster care and create new temporary 'assessment centers' and other facilities to house children. The lawsuit alleges that, despite new funding, little has improved in the lives of children still in state custody. Assessment centers are intended for a maximum of a 30-day stay in order to determine the best type of treatment and housing for children who have suffered abuse or neglect. Kids in state custody forced to sleep on floors in state office building Instead, most children are there for far longer, living in 'draconian conditions more commonly found in adult prisons,' the suit claims. The centers are frequently staffed by sheriff department personnel, not child welfare workers; DCS has authorized the use of shackles on children taken off site for doctors appointments and pepper spray to subdue them. Young victims of abuse are housed at the centers alongside teens accused of crimes, the suit noted. 'Children charged with violent criminal offenses are placed together with children removed from their homes due to the trauma of inflicted violence,' the suit said. 'Boys with rape and assault charges are placed together with girls.' The suit echoes similar claims made against the agency more than two decades ago, when a 2000 class action lawsuit alleged children in DCS custody were deprived of education, healthcare and other rights, and subjected to egregious living environments That lawsuit, known as 'Brian A.,' led to 17 years of federal court oversight requiring the agency to meet basic benchmarks in their treatment of children. The oversight formally ended in 2017. 'The system quickly declined to a point even worse than it was in 2000, and now subjects children to a wide range of harms,' a statement from attorneys filing suit this week said. The law firms filing suit are Bass Berry & Sims, A Better Childhood, The Barbara McDowell Social Justice Center, Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Wang Hecker. The lawsuit names the Department of Children's Services as defendant along with Commissioner Margie Quin, Deputy Commissioner Carla Aaron and Deputy Commissioner Karen Jointer Bryant. 2025.05.19 Complaint SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
West TN juvenile detention center to start construction in 2026
FAYETTE COUNTY, Tenn. — A bill proposing construction to begin on a new juvenile detention facility in West Tennessee was presented and passed in a House subcommittee this week. 'This bill would require by January of 2026 require the Department of Children's Services begin construction on a facility that would house children who are being detained while awaiting adjudication, allegations of delinquency or unruliness,' said TN House Rep. Mary Littleton (R). After a unanimous vote, House Bill 1358 moves on. The expected cost is around $284 million. FM0618Download State to build new Wilder Youth Development Center in Fayette County WREG has reported extensively over the years about issues at the current juvenile facility the Wilder Youth Development Center in Fayette County. It's operated by the Department of Children's Services. The center is where boys ages 14 to 18 from Shelby County and other places across the state go after they are found guilty of violent crimes. According to records, construction on an appropriate facility to house children who are being detained will start on Jan. 1, 2026. SA0138Download In a 2023 WREG investigators special report, our team uncovered data from the Fayette County Sheriff's Office that showed between 2019 and 2022, deputies responded to at least two dozen assault calls. There were four reports of sexual assaults, multiple disturbance calls including juveniles refusing to get off the roof, and riots that lasted hours and several escapes. New documentation says over the past three years the western district has approximately 60% of the total number of juvenile detainees across the entire state. The total number of beds that will result from the proposed legislation is 289 with 157 currently and 132 new. Wilder was opened in September of 1971. Escapes, riots, assaults: Concerns mounting at Wilder Youth Development Center The proposed legislation does not give specifics when it comes to the location or required acreage for the new facility. Back in 2023, DCS told WREG the department received more than $100 million in additional funding through the real estate plan, and $19 million of the approved funds will be used to begin the design phase for the new Wilder center along with a new youth center in Nashville. WREG reached out to DCS for a comment on this latest bill and to see what will happen to the current Wilder facility. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Yahoo
Alabama couple sues Tennessee agency, police after kids taken for months after traffic stop
Flashing lights on a police car. An Alabama couple has filed suit against the Tennessee Department of Children's Services and local Tennessee law enforcement alleging their two children were illegally taken for nine months after they were wrongly arrested during a traffic stop. () This story originally appeared on Tennessee Lookout. An Alabama couple has filed suit against the Tennessee Department of Children's Services and Sevierville law enforcement alleging their two children were illegally taken for nine months after they were wrongly arrested during a traffic stop. Nicholas and Elizabeth Frye were on a vacation at a Dollywood-area resort to celebrate their youngest child's seventh birthday in February 2024 when they were pulled over after leaving a Walmart parking lot, according to the federal lawsuit. They were charged with DUI, public intoxication, child abuse and neglect and aggravated child abuse and neglect while their children were held at the police station, according to the lawsuit, filed Feb. 25. The children remained at the station until their grandmother made the trip from Alabama to collect them. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Both parents denied being intoxicated or impaired and claimed police lacked probable cause to pull the family over. The charges were later dismissed by a local prosecutor and subsequently expunged, according to Aaron Kimsey, a Sevierville attorney representing the family. Kimsey declined to comment further on the lawsuit. A call to Sevierville government offices seeking comment was referred to the Sevierville Police Department, which did not respond to a request seeking arrest records. A spokesperson for the Department of Children's Services on Friday declined to comment on pending litigation. Both the city and the police department are named as defendants in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that police drew Nicholas Frye's blood but failed to immediately test it. When they did, there was no evidence he had been intoxicated, it said. 'The ultimate blood test results for Nicholas Frye show the absence of drugs and alcohol in their system at the time of the arrest,' the lawsuit said. 'Both the Frye parents and the Frye minor children have suffered irreparable, permanent and significant mental and emotional anguish,' the lawsuit said. The couple have 'suffered deleterious effects to their reputations, their standing in their community, their occupations, income and other major facets of their lives.' The couple are seeking $15 million in damages for violation of their constitutional rights and $10 million in damages for state law violations. The lawsuit echoes similar claims made against the Department of Children's Services and state and county law enforcement following a 2023 traffic stop that led to five young children being placed in foster care for nearly two months. Bianca Clayborne filed suit last year alleging the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Department of Children's Services, Coffee County Sheriff's Office and its employees wrongly took the children into state custody. Clayborne's partner was arrested for possession of fewer than five grams of marijuana, a misdemeanor in Tennessee typically resulting in a citation, not arrest. Clayborne was cited and told she was free to leave with her children. Hours later, the children were later taken from Clayborne's side as she waited to bail her partner out of jail. The incident raised questions about whether the couple's race — Clayborne, her partner and children are Black — made them a target of unequal treatment while driving through rural Tennessee and drew condemnation from the Tennessee NAACP and Democratic lawmakers. Clayborne's federal lawsuit alleging social workers and law enforcement officers 'illegally tore apart and terrorized Clayborne's family' remains ongoing. DCS, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Coffee County denied wrongdoing in the Clayborne lawsuit. The agencies named in the Frye suit have not yet filed a legal response. It's unclear where the two Frye children, identified only by their initials in legal filings, remained during the nine months they were out of their parents' custody. The lawsuit contains no reference to the family's race. Court records note that once the parents were arrested, Sevierville police contacted DCS. A DCS official, in turn, contacted the Alabama Department of Human Services, which ultimately took custody of the children until they were reunited with their parents. The lawsuit, which does not name Alabama child welfare officials as defendants, alleged they nevertheless 'exacerbated the constitutional violation….by precluding the Frye parents from seeing the Frye children.' Frye v Sevierville lawsuit Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@
