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One youth and two security staff at a Department of Children’s Services facility in Fayette County have tested positive for COVID-19 and mass testing is being conducted Thursday, the department said in a news release.
The three individuals were tested over the weekend after showing symptoms. All three were in the same unit at Wilder Youth Development Center, which houses boys aged 13-19 who have been deemed delinquent by a court. Two other teenagers and two security staff in a separate unit have also shown systems and their test results are pending, DCS said. An administrative staff member who works in a separate administration building has also tested positive.
Wilder is one of six facilities for kids in state custody that have had youth or staff members test positive. The others are the Memphis Center for Success and Independence, where 45 of 48 youth and 11 staff members have tested positive, Compass Intervention Center in Shelby County, Mountain View Academy in Jefferson County, Bill’s Place in Shelby County and Bledsoe Youth Academy, where one staff member tested positive and a mass testing later yielded no further cases of infection.
Three teenage boys who had been placed at a facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan facility tested positive when they were brought back to Tennessee earlier this month. Lakeside At least 37 teens and 9 staff members at Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo members have tested positive for COVID-19
Wilder, which has 109 juveniles and a total of 152 staff, is the only facility that is operated by DCS. The others are privately run and contract with the state to house youth in DCS custody.
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