Title 37, Juveniles

(1) The commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, has the following powers and duties in addition to such other powers and duties as may be specifically provided by law in this title or as otherwise provided by law:(1) Select and recommend to the appropriate state officials t…

(a) The department has the following powers:(1) Administer, develop or oversee programs, or any of these things including, but not limited to, state children's services agencies, except those operated by the department of mental health and substance abuse services or the departme…

(a) All applications, certificates, records, reports and all legal documents, petitions and records made or information received pursuant to this title that directly or indirectly identify a child or family receiving services from the department or that identify the person who ma…

The department has the power and authority to establish by policy, rule or regulation provisions for prohibition of any conflict of interest that may occur within the department of children's services that may affect the constitutional rights of a child being served by the depart…

(1) The responsibility for licensing children's programs, agencies, group homes, institutions or any other entity serving children that requires a license by law in Tennessee is as follows:(1) The department of children's services shall license or approve and supervise child abus…

(a) Contracts or leases entered into prior to May 21, 1996, with respect to any program or function transferred to the department of children's services with any entity, corporation, agency, enterprise or person, shall continue in full force and effect as to all essential provisi…

The department, through its commissioner, shall have the authority to receive, administer, allocate, disburse and supervise any grants and funds from whatever sources, including, but not limited to, the federal, state, county and municipal governments on a state, regional, county…

All current rules, regulations, orders, decisions and policies heretofore issued or promulgated by any departments of state government whose functions have been transferred under this chapter shall remain in full force and effect and shall hereafter be administered and enforced b…

The department shall have its youth development centers accredited by a regionally or nationally recognized accreditation body such as the American Correctional Association, the Council on Accreditation or other accreditation agency.

(a) Any juvenile program that was administered by the department of youth development prior to May 21, 1996, shall be transferred to, and administered by, the department of children's services on and after May 21, 1996. (b) All staff, staff positions, offices, equipment, supplies…

The department shall be reviewed pursuant to the requirements set out in the Tennessee Governmental Entity Review Law, compiled in title 4, chapter 29. Further, the department shall respond to requests for information from any other legislative committees including, but not limit…

No person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, age or ability to pay, be excluded from participation, be denied the benefits of or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity operated by the department of children's services. This…

(1) After July 1, 1989, any person employed as a youth service officer by the department of children's services shall:(1) Be at least eighteen (18) years of age;(2) Be a citizen of the United States;(3) Have such person's fingerprints on file with the Tennessee bureau of investig…

(a) All persons employed to control and manage juvenile programs for the state shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, take and subscribe the following oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will fully, faithfully, impartially, and diligently perform all…

(a) The youth development centers and any other facilities deemed appropriate by the commissioner shall be a special school district, which shall be given the same funding consideration for federal funds that school districts within the state are given. (b) The schools within suc…

There is created a library region to be composed of the youth development centers under the control of the department.

(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Evidence-based” means policies, procedures, programs, and practices demonstrated by scientific research to reliably produce reductions in recidivism or has been rated as effective by a standardized program ev…

(a) The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations establishing procedures, fees and charges for any service rendered relative to post-adoption search services and records handling services that are at any time required or permitted by law to be provided by th…

(a) (1) The department of children's services shall provide or contract with a private entity to provide to members of the public who have made a notification request, notification of the release of a juvenile adjudicated to have committed a delinquent act that would constitute a…

(a) The commissioner of children's services shall provide a report of the fatality or near fatality of:(1) Any child in the custody of the department;(2) Any child who is the subject of an ongoing investigation by child protective services or has been the subject of an investigat…

(a) Through contract with nonprofit corporations, community organizations, volunteer groups, churches, schools and family resource centers, the department of children's services is authorized to establish in each grand division two (2) model after school or summer programs, or bo…

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the department shall assist the council on children's mental health care in developing a plan that will establish demonstration sites in certain geographic areas where children's mental health care is child-centered, family-driven, and cul…

(a) The department and each board, commission, agency or other governmental entity created pursuant to this title shall notify each applicant for a professional or occupational license, certification or registration from the department, board, commission, agency or other governme…

Before March 1 of each year, the department shall appear before the judiciary committee of the senate and the civil justice committee of the house of representatives for a review of the policies of the department and attached protocol and procedures for these policies and any pro…

The department shall submit for review by the judiciary committee of the senate, the civil justice committee of the house of representatives, the government operations committee of the senate, and the government operations committee of the house of representatives any new departm…

In the event that a department of children's services provider agency school ceases operations, or the department no longer contracts with the provider agency, the permanent educational records for students who have been in state custody shall be forwarded to the department by th…

(a) This section shall apply to the following facilities:(1) Juvenile detention facilities approved, certified or licensed by the department of children's services; and(2) Facilities for children who are not in the custody of the department of children's services that provide com…

(a) The department shall maintain staffing levels of case managers so that each region has enough case managers to allow caseloads not to exceed an average, to be calculated at least monthly, of:(1) Twenty (20) active cases relating to initial assessments, including investigation…

By July 1, 2022, and every year thereafter, the department of children's services shall require any person receiving federal or state-funded adoption assistance from the department for adopting a child to provide the department with verification from the adopted child's current m…

(1) A department of children's services case manager shall report a suspected violation of a court order to law enforcement if:(1) The department currently has an open case on the family that is subject to the court order;(2) The court order is an order issued pursuant to title 3…

(a) The department shall make chaplain services available on a regular basis to juveniles who are housed in a youth development center. (b) The department shall not require a juvenile to attend or make use of the chaplain services.

The department shall provide training to all persons employed by the department as youth service officers on best practices for behavior management and conflict resolution in the context of supervision of juvenile justice youth. The training must be conducted annually.

(a) The department of children's services shall submit quarterly written reports to the chair of the government operations committee of the senate and the chair of the government operations committee of the house of representatives during 2023 to provide updates on the department…

(a) (1) The department and the department of disability and aging (DDA) shall collaborate to ensure that children with an intellectual or developmental disability who are in the custody of the department of children's services or at risk of entering the custody of the department …

(a) The commissioner of children's services shall develop a statewide quality assurance program. The purpose of the quality assurance program is to ensure quality control through monitoring, evaluation, and feedback on the performance of the best practices in the service delivery…

(a) For the detention, treatment, rehabilitation and education of children found to be delinquent, there shall be youth development centers. Such centers shall be under the supervision and control of the commissioner of children's services. (b) Nothing in this chapter shall be co…

There shall be a superintendent of each youth center to be appointed by the commissioner of children's services.

(a) The superintendent has charge, control and supervision of the youth center, its employees and students. (b) Such superintendent has authority to make recommendations to the commissioner of children's services for the release of children placed in the center.

(a) The superintendents of such centers shall have the authority, subject to the approval of the commissioner of children's services, to introduce any branch of educational pursuit that they may deem to be in the best interest of the children, and they shall use their utmost effo…

(a) Fees that are allowed by law for carrying prisoners to the penitentiary shall be allowed to the sheriffs for taking children found to have committed offenses punishable in the penitentiary to such youth centers. (b) The state shall only be responsible for the transfer of such…

(a) Any child committed to the department for an offense punishable by confinement in the penitentiary may be retained in a youth center until such child's nineteenth birthday, or at any time after the child's eighteenth birthday, when found to be incorrigible by the superintende…

Authority is given to the department for commitment of children who may be convicted of any offense against the United States in any district court of the United States within the state and sentenced by such court to the department, and to that end, the commissioner may enter int…

(a) A judge committing a child under eighteen (18) years of age to the department shall make out and sign a commitment on a form provided by the department and certified to by the clerk under the seal of the court. (b) Such commitment form, together with information of a social n…

(a) The superintendents shall:(1) Keep complete records of all children, their conduct, character and aptitudes;(2) Keep a set of account books in which all expenses of the youth center shall be entered, and shall sign all vouchers;(3) Keep a record of all products made or raised…

The commissioner shall be authorized, subject to the approval of the governor, to erect all buildings necessary for the proper maintenance of the children committed to the department of children's services, and to purchase all things for the proper equipment of the youth centers,…

(a) The commissioner shall keep an account of all products of the youth centers, and shall include a report of same in the commissioner's biennial report. (b) All money received from the operation of the youth centers shall be expended for the proper maintenance of the youth cent…