NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A group of Tennessee foster children is suing the state in a class action lawsuit, which claims the Department of Children’s Services fails the children it is supposed to protect.
Thirteen children currently in foster care, ages 1 to 16, filed the lawsuit on behalf of more than 9000 children in Tennessee’s foster care system.
The children are represented by a national non-profit advocacy organization out of New York, A Better Childhood, which has said it uses the courts to reform dysfunctional child welfare systems around the country.
Bass, Berry, and Sims is also listed among those representing the children.
The lawsuit claims the Department of Children’s Services “warehouses children in spaces which lack the necessities of life.”
It describes unsafe conditions inside transitional homes, which NewsChannel 5 Investigates has reported on extensively.
DCS set up the transitional homes after reports revealed children were sleeping in state office buildings because of a lack of foster placements.
The lawsuit claims while “intended as temporary placements, DCS leaves children in these situations for months on end.”
It also claims caseworkers are “overworked and undertrained.”
In 2000, a class action lawsuit on behalf of foster children led to a federal court takeover of Tennessee’s foster care system, which lasted until 2017.
The class action lawsuit from 2000 came to be known as ‘Brian A,’ after a foster child from Memphis who sued the state.
The new lawsuit claims the state allowed the system to deteriorate after court monitoring ended in 2017.
It claims “things quickly declined in the absence of court supervision,” and now DCS is “once again depriving children of their basic rights.”
Dewayne W. (age 15) is among the children suing the state in the most recent lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims Dewayne has been in DCS custody for three years because of a neglect and dependency petition.
It claims Dewayne has gone “to at least seven placements, including multiple stays in temporary placement centers.”
It claims DCS “subjected Dewayne to unnecessary physical, mental, and emotional harm by placing him in facilities with unsafe living conditions, inappropriately housing him in lockdown facilities, and depriving him of his right to an adequate education.”
Jasmine G. (age 15) entered DCS custody at age 12 and remains in DCS custody today, according to the lawsuit.
It claims Jasmine was trafficked by her biological mother, but that DCS failed to provide the therapy needed to address her severe trauma.
It claims in 2023, DCS sent Jasmine to an out-of-state facility more than 1,500 miles away “due to the lack of in-state placements.”
It claims Jasmine has now been there for over 18 months “with no clear plan for transition.”
It claims the facility where she is staying has repeatedly requested Jasmine’s removal, “citing its inability to meet her treatment needs.”
Last year, a separate organization filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of children on the juvenile justice side of DCS.
This lawsuit is for children who have come into the system because of abuse and neglect.
