Dixie calls for Department of Children’s Services investigation

Rep. Vincent Dixie, D-Nashville is calling on the chairs of the legislative Government Operations Committee to conduct an investigation into the Department of Children’s Services after the Tennessee Lookout reported kids in state custody are being forced to sleep on the floor of state office buildings.

“Recent reports of children in state custody sleeping on floors in Nashville office buildings, without even basic necessities like blankets, have disturbed me greatly. I’m sure these reports were unsettling to you as well,” Dixie, chair of the House Democratic Caucus wrote in a letter to Sen. Kerry Roberts, R-Springfield and Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge. 

“To hear from the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services’ spokesperson that this is potentially a frequent occurrence is even worse,” he said.

Dixie is asking Roberts and Ragan to call a DCS representative to appear before the Government Operations Committee committee to account for the issue in a letter delivered Monday afternoon. 

The Lookout on Monday published video of seven children in DCS custody sleeping on the floor of the Davy Crockett Tower in July, some without blankets or mattresses and surrounded by cribs, toys, full trash containers and at least one soiled diaper. 

The Tennessean subsequently reported on Monday that a total of 27 children had spent the night in the office building in June and July, while a space that would normally house children taken into custody was closed for renovations. That facility — the Davidson County DCS Resource Linkage Office — reopened Sunday, aided by donations from the Byard Family Legacy Fund, a charity founded by Tennessee Titans player Kevin Byard.

Jennifer Donnals, a spokeswoman for the department, told the Lookout last week that it was “not a violation of policy for children to stay in DCS offices during the nighttime hours until an appropriate placement is found.”

“Being unable to find a placement was an ongoing problem before the pandemic,” a longtime caseworker, who requested anonymity out of fear of being fired for drawing attention to children sleeping in office spaces, told the Lookout last week. “It’s gotten much worse. The number of kids sleeping in offices has never been this bad.”

In his letter, Vincent acknowledged that government agencies make mistakes and “nothing works perfectly 100 percent of the time.”

“But this incident represents more than just a mistake,” he said. “It’s a total failure on the part of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. There is simply no excuse.”