Gov. Bill Lee’s office recently pushed legislation to dismantle the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth

BY BILL FREEMAN

Gov. Bill Lee’s office recently pushed legislation aimed at dismantling the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, an independent agency that has been advocating for children’s welfare for more than three decades.

The legislation ultimately did not pass due to “widespread opposition from youth

LOGAN BUTTS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR advocacy experts across the state,” as reported by The Tennessean. But the mere fact that it was proposed has raised questions about the state’s commitment toward safeguarding its most vulnerable population. Many professionals and advocates are grateful that the legislation failed to gain traction, and it is not difficult to see why. The dismantling

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BILL FREEMAN, OWNER of such a critical agency would have had far-reaching consequences not only for the children of Tennessee but also for the Department of Children’s Services, to which many of the commission’s duties would have been transferred.

DCS, after all, has had its fair share of challenges in the recent past.

In December, the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury issued a gravely concerning audit about the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. According to the report, the department failed to adequately investigate dozens of reports of sexual harassment and sexual abuse among children in residential facilities.

An added plight: foster children having to sleep in the offices of staff members. As WSMV reported in December, according to DCS Commissioner Margie Quin, more than 300 children in DCS custody were using state office buildings as bedrooms over the past two years. And according to a Tennessee Lookout story from earlier this month: “Some Memphis lawmakers say children continue to stay in state offices because of an inability to place them with families.”

With these kinds of issues at DCS, along with the fact that the organization is already experiencing a reported 47.6 percent turnover rate in staffing, why the push to dismantle TCCY?

But Senate Bill 282 and House Bill 330 were on the table, and legislators were ready to pull the plug on TCCY. The legislation would have had the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth removed from a taskforce overseen by DCS charged with preventing child sexual abuse. As Tennessee Lookout reported, “Officials within the governor’s office [were] upset with the agency’s ‘State of Kids’ report” because it noted that “‘Tennessee struggles with foster care instability at a level not seen in the rest of the country,’ showing the highest rate of foster care instability in the nation each year from 2016 to 2020.”

Even if officials were embarrassed by the report, isn’t it a good thing to have this information — rather than stifling it or shutting the commission down for doing its job? The commission is an independent agency with the power to lobby for children’s rights without fear of political interference. Isn’t that something desirable to our governor?

State Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) recently said: “Tennessee is not living up to our legal responsibilities, much less our moral responsibilities when it comes to these children, and we should all be grateful to the commission for trying to shine a light on those problems.”

The commission provides a valuable service by conducting research, developing policy and advocating for the needs of children and families. Transferring the commission’s duties to DCS would compromise the independence of the agency, potentially lead to policies that prioritize the needs of the agency over the needs of children and families, and result in a loss of expertise and resources.

The attempted dismantling of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth by Gov. Lee’s office was misguided and concerning. The problems at DCS highlight the importance of having an independent agency to advocate for the wellbeing of children and families in Tennessee. Dismantling the commission would not only undermine the progress that has been made in recent years, but also put the lives of Tennessee’s children at risk.

Gov. Lee’s office should instead focus on strengthening the commission and providing it with the resources it needs to continue advocating for the welfare of Tennessee’s children.

Bill Freeman

Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and The News.

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