HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Pictures from inside a Department of Children’s Services (DCS) office reveal children are still sleeping in state office buildings.
The photos obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates show mattresses and makeshift beds inside an office in Hamilton County.
One of the photos was taken as recently as last month.
In 2023, Commissioner Margie Quin announced that children were no longer sleeping in DCS offices, with the exception of Shelby County.
Her announcement came after the Department opened “transitional homes” across the state to temporarily house children removed from abusive homes whom they could not place in foster homes.
The transitional homes are now part of a federal lawsuit claiming “DCS warehouses children in spaces which lack the basic necessities of life” … “for months on end.”
DCS said that because of the lawsuit, it could not comment on these pictures from Hamilton County.
However, DCS referred us back to its comment to The Tennessean earlier this year after it reported that nearly 100 kids stayed in offices in 2024.
DCS’s response to this February report was that the department has seen a growing number of children with severe behavioral or medical needs that cannot safely be placed in temporary, transitional housing, and as a result some slept in offices.
The spokesperson said Chattanooga and the Hamilton County region had some of the largest numbers.
DCS workers have contacted NewsChannel 5 Investigates, saying kids are sleeping in offices on a regular basis all across the state.
Former Guardian Ad Litem D.J. Davis, who represented children’s best interests in court, praised the filing of a class action lawsuit earlier this week.
“It’s very tragic that it has to be filed. It’s very tragic that it has come to this, but it’s literally the only thing that seems to work,” Davis said of the lawsuit.
She served as a Guardian Ad Litem following the filing of lawsuit in 2000 that came to known as “Brian A.’
That lawsuit led to a federal court takeover over of DCS, which lasted nearly 20 years until 2019.
“The minute the monitoring stopped, it’s like they no longer had to meet the requirements or the goals, so they just completely pulled out of all of it,” Davis said.
Children’s rights attorney Howard Talenfeld is not part of the recently filed lawsuit, but told NewsChannel 5 Investigates his firm is aware of the problems in Tennessee, “Honestly, the cases we see, the state is doing a far worse job than the parents that allegedly abused the kids in the first place.”
“The legislature needs to wake up and make sure it appropriates enough money,” Talenfeld said.
DCS employees have contacted NewsChannel 5 Investigates saying they required to take overtime shifts “sitting” in transitional homes and in some cases, have to provide medications to children despite having no medical training.
DCS declined to comment on the lawsuit and said to contact the state Attorney General’s office.
The Tennessee Attorney General’s office also declined to comment.
发表回复