Title 37, Juveniles

The department of human services is empowered and directed to promulgate and enforce such rules and regulations for the conduct of all such receiving homes as shall be necessary to effect the purpose of this part and other laws of the state relating to children and safeguard the …

No home in any county shall be approved as a county receiving home until it has been inspected and licensed by the department of human services, and such license shall not be issued for a period longer than one (1) year.

No such license shall be issued unless the premises are in a fit sanitary condition, and the home is equipped and staffed to provide properly for the physical, social, moral, mental, educational and religious needs of all children kept therein. The application for such license sh…

The license shall state the name of the licensee, the particular premises in which the business may be carried on, and the number of children, not to exceed eight (8), that may be properly boarded or cared for therein at any one time.

A record of the license so issued shall be kept by the department of human services and by the county mayor of the county in which the home is located.

Such license shall be kept and maintained upon the premises at all times and exhibited upon request of any member of the general public or representative of the state, county or municipal government.

Any license issued under this part may be revoked by the department of human services acting through the commissioner. The department shall notify the licensee thirty (30) days prior to revoking any license stating the reasons for revocation. A copy of the notice shall be sent to…

No person shall receive a child for care in any such home or receive any payment for subsidy or for board or special needs of any child unless it has an unrevoked license issued by the department of human services within twelve (12) months preceding the payment of such subsidy or…

The county mayor and the department of human services, through its designated agent, shall enter into a written contract with each licensed receiving home, the contract to state the amount of subsidy to be paid for each bed, the number of beds to be available at all times, and th…

Each county maintaining a subsidized receiving home shall submit to the department of human services by the tenth of each month or the first of each quarter, that is, January, April, July, and October, respectively, an itemized statement of the cost of subsidizing each licensed r…

Any dependent, neglected or abandoned child or any child without proper parental care or guardianship shall be received in the home by commitment of the juvenile judge wherever the juvenile judge's jurisdiction permits, upon a judgment or decree entered in the court showing that …

The period of commitment to the home shall be for such time as may be fixed by the juvenile judge, in the order of commitment, pending social study and planning for the best interest of each child committed, but of not longer than the majority of the child.

The county office of the department of human services shall prepare a case record on each child committed under this part and shall furnish the juvenile judge with a summary of the record, who shall preserve the record in a well-bound book.

The department of human services, by its agents, has the power to enter, visit and investigate any licensed receiving home at any and all reasonable times without prior notice of its intentions so to do.

No greater number of children shall be kept at any one time on the licensed premises than is authorized by the license, and no child shall be kept in a building or place not designated in the license.

Any person who violates this part or the regulations promulgated by the department of human services by direction of this part or who willfully makes any false statements or reports to the department or the county mayor, or both, of any county with reference to any matter embrace…

(a) The primary purpose of this part is to protect children from unnecessary separation from parents who will give them good homes and loving care, to protect them from needless prolonged placement in foster care and the uncertainty it provides, and to provide them a reasonable a…

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Abandonment”, for purposes of terminating the parental or guardian rights of a parent or a guardian of a child to that child in order to make that child available for adoption, has the same meaning as defined in…

(a) (1) (A) Within thirty (30) days of the date of foster care placement, an agency shall prepare a plan for each child in its foster care. Such plan shall include a goal for each child of:(i) Return of the child to parent;(ii) Permanent placement of the child with a fit and will…

(a) In addition to the plan required in § 37-2-403, the department or agency shall submit to the appropriate court or foster care review board a report for each child in its foster care on progress made in achieving the goals set out in the plan. Such reports shall be prepared by…

(1) The department of children's services may, by regulation, adopt and prepare additional guidelines for the plans required of agencies; however, no such guidelines shall apply to a licensed child care agency if not applicable to the department. All plans established for the chi…

(a) (1) One (1) or more foster care review boards are hereby established in each county or in a region comprised of contiguous counties, the members being appointed by the judge or judges having juvenile court jurisdiction in such county or region by their mutual agreement. The j…

The department of children's services shall prepare suggestions for review procedures that may be used by each advisory review board. Such suggested procedures may provide a basis for uniform review procedure throughout this state.

(a) All records, reports, permanency plans, reviews and reports of the foster care review boards or any material prepared in connection with the planning, placement or care of a child in the care or custody of the department of children's services or in foster care with any agenc…

(a) (1) In addition to the other requirements of this part, the judge or magistrate shall hold a hearing within twelve (12) months of the date of foster care placement for each child in foster care. As long as a child remains in foster care, subsequent permanency hearings conduct…

Any interested person, at any time while the child is under the jurisdiction of the court, may file a petition, in writing and under oath, for a rehearing upon all matters coming within this part, and upon rehearing, the court may, consistent with §§ 37-1-129(c) and 37-2-403(d), …

(a) Each year the department of children's services shall prepare and issue a report on foster care in Tennessee. The report shall include an analysis, evaluation or estimate, as appropriate, of the following, on a statewide basis:(1) The number of children in foster care;(2) The…

(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “approved smoke detector” means a device that senses visible or invisible particles of combustion and has been investigated and listed in accordance with standards prescribed by:(1) A nationally recognized and ap…

(a) The department of children's services is authorized to adopt mandatory rules binding on the courts and agencies subject to this part to implement the provisions of any changes in federal law relative to compliance with any foster care review processes set forth in federal law…

(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Department” means the department of children's services; and(2) “Foster parent” means any person with whom a child in the care, custody or guardianship of the department is placed for temporary or long-term c…

(a) To the extent not otherwise prohibited by state or federal statute, the department shall, through promulgation of rules in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, implement each of the following tenets. With respect to the pl…

(a) The department shall notify the foster parents, if any, or any prospective adoptive parent or relative providing care for the child in state custody with notice of any review or hearing to be held with respect to the child. The foster parents, if any, of such a child and any …

(a) To the extent not otherwise prohibited by state or federal statute, the department shall, through promulgation of rules in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, implement each of the following tenets. With respect to any fo…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Age- or developmentally-appropriate” means:(A) Activities or items that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same chronological age or level of maturity or that are determined to be developmentally appropriate for a child based o…

(a) The department of children's services shall not require an individual or members of the individual's household to undergo an immunization as a condition of overseeing a child in foster care under this chapter unless the child is under eighteen (18) months of age or has signif…

(a) An agency shall provide a child in foster care with contact information for each sibling who is also in foster care and who is not placed in the same home as the child if maintaining contact with the sibling is in the best interests of each sibling. (b) A child in foster care…

(a) Notwithstanding a provision of this chapter to the contrary, non-governmental independent contractors that contract with, or enter into an agreement with, the department of children's services for the provision of foster care continuum services to children in the department's…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Department” means the department of children's services; and(2) “Relative caregiver” means a person with a first, second, or third degree of relationship to the parent or stepparent of a child who may be related to the child through blood, marriag…

Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, if a child has been removed from the custody of a parent or legal guardian due to a finding of abuse, as defined in § 37-1-102, and placed in foster care with the department or in the care of an agency as provided in § 37-2-403, then r…

(a) The department of children's services shall not:(1) Request information regarding the number or type of firearms or ammunition or identifying information about such firearms or ammunition that a foster parent or prospective foster parent owns or possesses; or(2) Request a fos…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Runaway Act.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Department” means the department of children's services;(2) “Runaway” means any person under eighteen (18) years of age who is away from the home or residence of such person's parents or guardians without such p…

All houses, institutions or other organizations giving sanctuary to runaway youths shall be registered with the department. No such house or institution shall provide sanctuary to such persons unless it is registered in accordance with this part.

The department shall establish minimum standards for runaway houses and shall not issue registration to any runaway house that does not comply with this part or does not meet or exceed the minimum standards established by the department. This part applies to all runaway houses wi…

(1) The standards established by the department shall include, but not be limited to, the following:(1) Separate quarters for males and females;(2) Supervision of both sexes;(3) Complete and accurate records of all runaways housed;(4) Minimum health and safety requirements as est…

(a) Any runaway seeking sanctuary may be given shelter for seventy-two (72) hours; provided, that:(1) The runaway is not known to have committed, nor is under investigation for the commission of, a delinquent or criminal act;(2) A good faith attempt is made to notify the juvenile…