Thirteen Tennessee children in foster care have filed a class action lawsuit against the state Department of Children’s Services, saying the system fails to keep the children in its care safe.
A Better Childhooda New York-based nonprofit watchdog organization, brought the lawsuit on behalf of the children — ages 1 to 16 — who say they suffered while in the state’s custody. According to the lawsuit, DCS “warehouses children in spaces which lack the basic necessities of life, including adequate food, bedding, soap and potable water.”
More than 9,000 children in Tennessee are in foster care. According to claims made in the 74-page complaintchildren were stuck in the system for up to eight years without being placed in a permanent home. Other plaintiffs assert that the department fails to investigate reports of abuse and that the system is facing a “critical shortage” of foster families and case workers, who are often overworked and undertrained. The suit also alleges that children in the foster care system lack stability and are often moved between homes, institutions, group settings and emergency placements.
The lawsuit says conditions in the foster care system began to deteriorate in 2017, when a federal court stopped monitoring the division — oversight that had come as a result of a separate class action lawsuit in 2000 known as “Brian A.”
“It is very troubling that Tennessee turned its back on protecting children after the Brian A. lawsuit ended,” says Marcia Lowry, director of A Better Childhood and attorney on the Brian A. case, in a press release. “This foster care system got better when the state was under a court order, but those efforts disappeared after court oversight ended. It is sad to think that Tennessee foster children have to fight this fight again.”
Some children are placed in temporary assessment centers, which the lawsuit says subjects them to “draconian conditions more commonly found in adult prisons.” It says the centers are commonly staffed by personnel from the sheriff’s department and that the department is “explicitly authorized” to shackle children when they are taken out of the center for doctors’ appointments and other visits. It also says DCS policy allows for the use of pepper spray on children. A center located at the Clover Bottom campus in Nashville is surrounded by barbed wire that was installed after DCS began using the campus, the suit says.
The lack of foster homes and therapeutic centers led to reports of students being housed in state office buildings in 2022while others were sent out of state. The lawsuit mentions 15-year-old Jasmine, who was sent to an out-of-state residential facility more than 1,500 miles away due to Tennessee’s shortage. Jasmine has been there for more than 18 months “with no clear plan for transition,” the complaint says.
Additionally, the lawsuit says children are often placed in foster homes and facilities where they are likely to be assaulted. It references siblings Amara and Zane — two of the suit’s plaintiffs, now 9 and 8 years old, respectively — who were physically and sexually abused by their foster parents, resulting in trauma and PTSD for the children. “The state fails to consistently provide them the therapeutic services they need,” the complaint says, also noting that the siblings have been separated and have not seen each other in two years.
The plaintiffs are asking the state to prioritize keeping siblings together, work toward lowering caseloads, thoroughly vet foster homes and institutions, better ensure permanent homes, and provide adequate medical and mental health services to the children.
The Nashville Scene reached out to DCS for comment on the lawsuit and was directed to the Tennessee Attorney General’s office. We did not receive a response as of press time.
