Tennessee Commission on Children
and Youth
Linda O'Neal, Executive Director

Strengths Identified Statewide in 2004

Most children were appropriate for custody at the time of custody.
Most children were in the least restrictive, most appropriate placement to meet their needs.
Most children were with either biological family, kinship (relative/friend), or with a resource family in a foster home.
Most case managers had an adequate knowledge of the child and family.
In most cases the TNKIDS extract/screens contained accurate information.
Substantial services had been provided in an effort to prevent custody.
In almost all cases, when appropriate, siblings were placed together in compliance with Brian A./Best Practices.
Most children with a goal of reunification were visiting with families in appropriate settings and most siblings were visiting when appropriate.
Most children were visited by case managers as required in compliance with Brian A./Best Practices.
Most children were in placements close to home or in the DCS region.
Many children were in quality foster homes with foster parents very committed to the children, and many willing to adopt.
Most all children were receiving Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment services.
Four in five children needing special education services were receiving them.
Most social services caseloads were at the level needed to meet Brian A./Best Practice requirements with an average of 15.7; adoption caseloads averaged 10. Juvenile Justice caseloads averaged 25.7.

Weaknesses Identified Statewide in 2004

The assessment of needs identified for children/families was often inadequate.
Many Permanency Plans were inadequate, not addressing current issues/service needs of the child and family, and lacking strategies to achieve the permanent goal.
Service coordination and communication between various system components were often inadequate.
Many children in the Brian A. class experienced more than two out-of-home placements, ranging from 3 to 28 with an average of five and a median of four for those who had two or more placements. The average total number of placements for all children in custody was four.
Many children had experienced a change in case managers within the past 12 months because many case managers had been reassigned, and other case managers possessed 12 or fewer months experience.
Many children stayed in custody too long.
Truancy or other school problems were major factors contributing to custody for a number of school-age children.
A number of children did not receive adequate independent living/transition services.
A number of children experienced lengthy stays (30 days or more) in detention/ emergency shelter/diagnostic shelter awaiting a placement.
A number of children (19 percent) experienced multiple custodies: 77 percent, 4 times; 9 percent, 3 times; 8 percent, 6 times; 3 percent, 5 times; 3 percent, 2 times.
A number of children received in-home services/crisis intervention but still entered custody.
A number of children did not receive timely subsequent dental screenings every six months as required by EPSDT, and hearing and vision screenings were not always adequately documented.
TennCare sometimes delayed service implementation or provided inadequate services due to insufficient provider network, especially for mental health services, refusal to pay for specialized services, extended waiting periods at the Health Department, difficulty scheduling appointments, and confusion related to TennCare eligibility.