New Report Says Tennessee Foster Care Instability Is Worst In The U.S.

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

A new report from the Tennessee Commission on Children & Youth says that Tennessee children in the foster care system face more instability than those in any other state.

The State of the Child report looks at a number of different factors to determine the well-being of Tennessee children. The latest report, released this week, showed that Tennessee continued to have the highest rate of foster care instability, a title the state has unfortunately held since 2016. 

Instability is defined as a youth having three or more home placements within their first year of being in the system. The report says that 34% of foster cases in the state are cases of instability, which comes in at more than twice the national average of 14.9% of cases. According to the most recent data, Puerto Rico comes closer than any other state or territory to meeting that percentage, coming in at 26%.

Some lawmakers say this report showed exactly why they have been pushing for Governor Bill Lee to find a way to allocate additional funding to the Department of Children’s Services.

“I think that this report showed everything that we’ve been talking about for the last couple of years, and how horrible the situation is at DCS,” said State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville-District 13). “We’re talking about a dangerous situation. We’re talking about a lot of children.”

Governor Lee has already acknowledged the issues that are running rampant at DCS and a number of improvements are already underway but will likely have to wait until next year’s budget is approved. 

DCS has already requested $156 million worth of new funding for the upcoming fiscal year, with $15.8 million of that going to increase case manager salaries. Another $30 million will be used to increase pay for contracted providers and $5.7 million will help to provide adoption services.

Legislators say that is not enough.

“We will be filing several pieces of legislation to try and repair this broken system,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Representative John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville-District 55) “Our bills will work their way through the legislative process, but it’s really the governor who should be leading the charge. He is to blame for our state breaching its duty to these children, so one would think he would be motivated to propose substantive solutions immediately. Our children are looking to us for care and protection now – not months down the line.”

According to Richard Kennedy, executive director of the Commission, the data shows a clear need within the state, a need that cannot be met solely by the Governor. 

“I think the real need is that Tennesseans who have ever considered fostering, have ever considered being a support for a foster parent, should really step forward and be willing to volunteer to do that,” said Kennedy.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com