After months of independent research, review of federal oversight records, and conversations with impacted families and whistleblowers, State Representative Aftyn Behn is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to open a pattern-or-practice civil rights investigation into the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS).

The request follows federal findings of noncompliance, disability-related segregation concerns, and mounting evidence that Tennessee’s child welfare financing and placement practices may be undermining children’s rights to stability, permanency, and integration

In September 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Departmental Appeals Board issued DAB No. 3150, upholding findings that Tennessee failed to achieve substantial conformity with key federal child welfare requirements, including placement stability. The decision affirmed the withholding of federal Title IV-B and Title IV-E funds based on these deficiencies.

These concerns are underscored by ongoing litigation against the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services alleging systemic failures, unsafe and unstable placements, prolonged custody, and harm to children with disabilities. The claims raise serious questions about negligence, overreliance on congregate care, and failure to achieve timely permanency. In this context, continued expansion of state-operated placement facilities risks entrenching practices already under judicial scrutiny and may further expose the State to liability under Title II of the ADA, Section 504, and the constitutional rights of children in state custody. 

Rep. Behn is asking impacted families to sign a statewide petition and submit their testimony for ongoing review and accountability efforts surrounding the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. For more information, visit www.aftynbehn.com/childrenoverchecks.