KIDS IN CRISIS: Rep. Gloria Johnson, Sen. Heidi Campbell relay dire pleas from DCS frontline workers

Workers claim serious child abuse cases falling through the cracks, one child has lived in state office space ‘since July’

NASHVILLE — Lawmakers, who have been sounding the alarm about children in crisis at Gov. Bill Lee’s Department of Children’s Services, offered an update about continued staffing failures at the agency.

Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, and Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, shared horrific stories and urgent pleas for help that were relayed to them by frontline caseworkers at the short-staffed Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.

“Right now, I’m getting calls of desperation,” said Rep. Johnson. “I’m hearing from DCS workers now, the collapse is happening.”

Vulnerable children continue to stay inside agency spaces equipped for work, not child care, and one child, according to a staffer, has lived in a Knox County DCS office building since July.

“This is unacceptable. We have kids who have been in offices every night for some time — it’s a disaster and it’s abusive,” Rep. Johnson said. “Folks, these kids are state custody, these kids are in Bill Lee’s custody. He is their daddy right now and anybody else would be arrested for neglect and child abuse.

“We have got to care of these children and he has got to step up and get something done,” Johnson said.

Kids are in office buildings because there are not enough placement opportunities or respite homes. That shortage, workers say, prompted DCS higher ups to begin forcing caseworkers to sign up for shifts — beyond their work schedule — to sit with kids inside office buildings.

Staffing crisis impeding child abuse investigations

Workers say the staffing crisis has reached a point where there are not enough employees to investigate cases of severe child abuse being referred to Child Protective Services.

For instance, they said, Davidson County only has 11 out of 63 positions filled at Child Protective Service. These are the workers that investigate child abuse. Also in Davidson County, only 5 out of 60 foster care positions are filled. These are the workers who find homes for vulnerable kids.

“This crisis wasn’t destiny. It was created by policy decisions,” Sen. Campbell said. “For years, the governor and supermajority have hollowed out state departments. Now, their neglect and disrespect for state workers has led to staffing crisis.”

Sen. Campbell says Gov. Lee and the supermajority are “making this crisis worse” with new laws like the total abortion ban.

“Under Gov. Bill Lee, women are being forced to give birth in a state that won’t investigate child abuse,” Sen. Campbell said. “Under Gov. Lee, women are being forced to give birth in a state that won’t prioritize safe homes for all children.”

Sen. Campbell says the crisis should be addressed with urgency because “there is no telling how many children” will fall through cracks created by the staffing crisis.

“We could solve this problem tomorrow by making Tennessee a state that invests in vulnerable kids and invests in the workers protecting them,” Sen. Campbell said. “I’ll work with anyone to get results for these kids, but it’s going to take action: better salary, better working conditions and more respect for the people doing the work.”

Currently, whistleblowers say it is not uncommon for DCS caseworkers to carry 40, 50 or even up to 90 child placement cases.

Rep. Johnson and Sen. Campbell sponsored legislation in 2021 that would have capped the number caseloads any DCS worker can carry at 12, a best practice recognized by social workers nationally. Republican members of the legislature killed the bill.

Direct messages from workers

“DCS has officially collapsed on the backs of frontline workers.”

“Cases of severe abuse are not getting investigated.”

“We are being forced to help sit with kids in offices because we don’t have enough placements.”

“It’s all over the state… they’ve had kids in offices for weeks. Central office caused this problem now they are forcing employees to sign up on a sitting schedule because we have no placements. An already depleted department is now forcing those who are left to clean up their mess.”

“Decades of poor policies by politicians have led to this crisis. Bill Lee has only made it worse. All of the problems with the department fall on the shoulders of frontline staff. You’re not going to see anyone from ‘leadership’ helping to sit with these kids. There are no beds, no showers, no nothing for these kids except what staff purchase for them out of our own pockets.”

“There is constant infighting because of the stress being put on employees.”

“More than 20 years here and this has never happened before.”

“Our commissioner appears to have a plan in place, but it’s already too late for hundreds of children across the state who are being victimized daily.”