A Primer on Tennessee DCS
Department of Children’s Services is a cabinet-level agency formed to address child welfare and protection issues in Tennessee. In 2017, Tennessee passed a new law reorganizing the DCS. The new Child Well-Being Board creates seven minimum requirements that DCS must meet to be deemed compliant. There will be an annual review to assess whether DCS has met those requirements . Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has three primary responsibilities: first, DCS is responsible for taking custody of children when they are no longer safe at home. Second, DCS is tasked with finding a permanent placement for children out of home. Last, DCS is responsible for providing youth with educational stability, mental health awareness, and general assistance transitioning into adulthood.
Tennessee DCS Regulations and Policies
The core regulations that govern Department of Children’s Services (DCS) are contained within the Tennessee Code Annotated. The Tennessee Code Annotated is akin to the "rules" of the various gaming video are governed by. The Tennessee Code Annotated will sometimes be referred to as the "Tennessee Code" or the "Code."
A child is subject to the jurisdiction of DCS when:
- The child has been harmed and the responsible adult is unable or unwilling to properly care for the child;
- The child is expected to be a minor or an infant and no person is legally responsible for such child, or there is no person "able and willing" to care for the child;
- The child is a runaway;
- The child is truant and has missed a significant number of school days;
- The child is alleged to be dependent and neglected;
- The person has been convicted of a felony sex offense;
- The person has committed a delinquent act;
- The person is under the age of 18 and alleged to have acted in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 37-1-114.
Many times the child does not want to be kept in the state system, so the parents or guardian fight to have the child placed back with them. Then DCS or a Court will require the parents or guardian to follow Safe Baby Guidelines, which are also in the Tennessee Code.
The guidelines are in regards to, but not limited to:
- For working parents, a plan must be filed covering the first 30 days away.
- The parent and child will keep in contact, should they be away from each other for more than 7 days.
- A plan for each month is to be filed thereafter.
- When a parent or guardian thinks that a child is being abused, they should call the Child Abuse Hotline to place a report. It is beneficial to know the date of birth of the child.
- You can try to locate a child’s records on the DCS website – child abuse inquiry.
Tennessee DCS and Child Protection
DCS operates to ensure the safety of minors. In many respects DCS acts as the front line agency to protect children, monitor caregivers and provide oversight when circumstances dictate. When DCS receives notice of potential child abuse or neglect there is an initial screening process to determine whether the claim warrants investigation. If the claim has merit, subject to investigation, there appears to be four standard methods for handling a case: Legally, a legal presumption has been established that a parent or caregiver is not suitable and unable to serve children under their care where there is: (a) Abuse; (b) Neglect; (c) Abandonment; (d) Unlawful conduct with respect to a minor; or (e) Emotional harm to the child. The legal presumption is an essential element of any work associated with DCS. If the child is abused, neglected or subjected to any of the earlier listed enumerates and the parent or caregiver could have protected him/her, then the parent or caregiver is presumed unfit for the child. This is a powerful presumption that will impact what DCS deems an appropriate action plan to address the underlying cause. For example, some parents simply cannot be left alone with their children, while other parents are suitable in the face of neglect and there are no safe alternatives. The presumption is one of many factors a DCS social worker investigates and assesses. Ethically, DCS generally operates in the realm of protection. DCS can take children from parents or caregivers if necessary to ensure safety. Moreover, such power extends to parents or caregivers who are involved in activities or close in proximity to children. As such, DCS can file an allegation of there being a risk of abuse and/or neglect if a caregiver or parent engages in activities that jeopardize the safety of the children, even though the DCS social worker may not have observed any abusive or neglectful behavior. Instead DCS will operate upon what constitutes a risk of abuse and/or neglect. Practically, DCS generally interacts with minors in one of two general ways. First, DCS may investigate an allegation it has received. This typically arises from an incident report prepared by law enforcement or a private citizen. DCS will assess on the facts before it what type of intervention is warranted. Second, DCS may be involved in monitoring the circumstances of a minor where there is an open case it is addressing. For example, a parent may have lost custody of their children and are attempting to regain the custodial right of the minor. As such, the local DCS office may be involved in monitoring the parents’ progress to determine whether the parent should be offered parenting classes and/or empowered to parent.
Foster Care and Adoption Guidelines
DCS’ rules regarding Foster Care and Adoption are the main focus of Chapter 14 of the DCS Policy Manual. Adoption and Foster Care are also discussed in Rules 0150-01-03 and 0160-02-05. A potential adoptive parent must be at least 18 years of age, financially stable and currently live in Tennessee. Most importantly, a potential adoptive parent must be free of drugs and alcohol and have no history of criminal sonic behavior that may harm a child. Failure to comply with the rules and regulations as required by the DCS will result in denial or termination of an application for adoption and/or revocation or termination of a current placement/contract for adoption and/or foster placement.
Parent and Guardian Rights and Obligations
Rule 0250-7-13-.5 of Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services (DCS) Title IV-E Manual is a section highly informative for parents of children who have been removed from the home following allegations of abuse and neglect. Required by federal regulations, this section details the "Rights, responsibilities and obligations" of parents and guardians for children in the DCS system undergoing investigation or treatment for abuse/neglect.
Rule 0250-7-13-.6 further delineates the guidelines for visitation between parents and guardians and their children who are in protective custody. The Code of Federal Regulations § 471 outlines that parents or relative caregivers be provided due process in their parental rights if their child is to be removed from the home.
In situations where abuse and neglect are at issue and a child must be placed in the custody of his/her relatives or in the DCS Child Welfare system, parents retain the right to participate in certain court proceedings that may impact their rights or result in the termination of their parental rights following periods of temporary custody .
The rules and regulations that define parents’ and children’s rights within the DCS system are an essential part of the Child Welfare Act, as written into law in Tennessee as Title 37 – Juvenile Proceedings. These rules outline the start of the permanent removal process that may occur outside of a state foster care system or following an adoption. Parental rights are defined in parts (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) of Rule 0250-7-13-.5. Examples of how these rights are exercised include:
Due to various issues, it is not uncommon for a child taken into custody by DCS to remain in their temporary placement with a relative or foster family throughout the dependency or adjudicatory period. If a parent or guardian is able to participate in visitation with children during this time, it can help them get to know their child, and judge if they feel it is appropriate for their child to return to them. Some parents and guardians may, for various reasons, be unable to attend court hearings or participate in DCS investigations. In this case, the Rules and Regulations under the CRA confer the right to present all relevant evidence in the investigation.
Reporting Procedures and Compliance
Employing a robust system of auditing, monitoring, and reporting, DCS in Tennessee plays an active role in ensuring accountability and transparency for the multitude of services provided. A variety of mandatory and voluntary methods exist through which DCS proactively ensures compliance with its rules and regulations. In addition, DCS is required to maintain documentation and records to allow for public and private access in accordance with federal law, state law, and DCS policy.
Any person may make an oral or written referral alleging any suspected abuse, neglect, or child dependent child death by telephone or in writing to a DCS Child Abuse Hotline. During non-business hours, calls are made directly to local law enforcement. A DCS intake case manager or a law enforcement officer will ask questions regarding the nature of the complaint and determine whether a formal investigation will be undertaken.
DCS also has a Special Investigators Division that investigates allegations of wrongdoing conducted by Department employees or employees of private provider agencies. Investing full-time DCS personnel with police powers allows the agency to investigate and prosecute crimes against children that occur within the state or involve state resources.
All DCS child protective services investigations are subject to quality assurance reviews. These reviews are conducted by trained staff and provide for the identification, investigation, and reporting of conditions of practice that are not consistent with statutory requirements, federal requirements, and policy and procedure. DCS conducts routine internal audits of the effectiveness of policies and practices in relation to child protective services and safety management. Such audits effect changes in statewide practice and can assist in the prevention of reoccurrence of volatile conditions.
Legislative and Regulatory Changes
The DCS policy manual (that is, the "rules" and "regulations" of the Department of Children’s Services) is currently undergoing review and revision. You can follow the policy manual page to see changes as they are made. It is important to stay current as the manual is updated as such changes may directly affect the work that child welfare professionals do in our cases.
Recently, changes were made to seven (7) sections of the DCS policy manual, affecting CFTM, Family Support Services Payment, Quality Assurance, Review Team, Discipline, Quality Parenting Initiative. The release of changes and updates directly impacts the following policies, which are identified in brief below:
6.3 – Child and Family Team Meeting (CFTM) (Formerly 38.1)
The Child and Family Team Meeting (CFTM) policy has been revised to incorporate Tennessee Code Annotated 37-5-106 and add definitions of immediate and extended family.
6.16 – Family Support Services (Formerly 27.6)
Changes made to the Family Support Services policy have been made to clarify that General Fund foster care maintenance payment does not apply to Child and Family Services .
18.8 – Quality Assurance (Formerly 36.1)
Amendments have been made to the Quality Assurance policy to incorporate specific reference to observations within Quality Assurance reviews.
40.10 – Review Team (Formerly 29.10)
Clarification was made to the Review Team policy by establishing a schedule for Internal Review Teams to conduct quarterly reviews of those files marked for case closure.
40.22 – Discipline (Formerly 42.9)
Amendments have been made to the Discipline policy to include a Confidential Disciplinary Actions Reporting Form and define the confidentiality requirements on this reporting form.
31.4 – Quality Parenting Initiative (Formerly 15.1)
Changes were made to the Quality Parenting Initiative policy to include additional details about relevant training programs and steps and procedures to be followed by the Department.
42.7 – Case Closure (Formerly 38.5)
Amendments have been made to the Case Closure policy in order to incorporate changes to the Family Team Meetings process. Additionally, clarification was made in regard to when adoption records are required to be destroyed.