Tennessee Department of Children's Services

Tennessee Department of Children's Services

The administrative headquarters of TDCS in Nashville
Child protective services agency overview
Formed	April 1996 (1996-04)
Type	State agency
Jurisdiction	Government of Tennessee
Headquarters	315 Deaderick Street, 10th floor, UBS Tower, Nashville, Tennessee 37238 36.1659°N 86.7796°W / 36.1659; -86.7796
Employees	4,200[1]
Annual budget	$991.3 million (2021)[2]
Child protective services agency executive	Margie Quin, Commissioner
Website	www.tn.gov/dcs.html

The Tennessee Department of Children's Services (TDCS) is a state agency of Tennessee that operates services for children and youth. It is currently headquartered on the tenth floor of the UBS Tower in Nashville. The current commissioner is Margie Quin, who assumed office on September 1, 2022.[3]

Juvenile facilities

The Division of Juvenile Justice operates three juvenile correctional facilities for male juveniles. In addition it contracts with G4S Youth Services, which operates the G4S Academy for Young Women, which has services for female juveniles.[4] The G4S Academy is housed on the Clover Bottom Developmental Center campus in Donelson.[5] The Clover Bottom complex is owned by the State of Tennessee.[6]

The three youth development centers for male juveniles are hardware-secured long-term confinement facilities for juvenile prisoners.[7] The youth development centers serve juveniles ages 12–19.[8]

• Mountain View Development Center - Dandridge
• Wilder Youth Development Center - Unincorporated Fayette County
• Woodland Hills Youth Development Center - Nashville
  • This includes the property that was formerly the New Visions Youth Development Center for female juveniles. In 2012 the state began contracting with G4S and integrated the former New Visions property into Woodland Hills.[7]

Previously it operated the following:[9]

• New Visions Youth Development Center - Nashville - The only female YDC facility, New Visions served all of Tennessee.[10] - Around 2012 the New Visions property was to be combined with Woodland Hills YDC.[6]
• Shelby Training Center - Memphis
• Taft Youth Center - Unincorporated Bledsoe County
  • It opened around 1917. In 2011 Governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam called for several budget cuts, so Kathryn O'Day, the commissioner of DCS, called for the closure of this facility that November, stating there would be annual savings of $8.5 million. The final three inmates were moved out of the facility in 2012. The Taft property was given to the Tennessee Department of Corrections, which operates adjacent adult prisons: Bledsoe County Corrections Complex and Southeast Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility.[6]

References

1. "About Us - DCS Staff". TN.gov. Tennessee Department of Children's Services. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
2. "The Budget Fiscal Year 2022-2023" (PDF). TN.gov. Department of Finance and Administration. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
3. Brown, Melissa (July 22, 2022). "Lee appoints new commissioner to lead issue-plagued DCS". Tennessean.com. The Tennessean. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
4. "Juvenile Justice." Tennessee Department of Children's Services. Retrieved on December 8, 2012.
5. "Facilities." G4S Academy. Retrieved on December 8, 2012.
6. Benton, Ben. "Taft Youth Center's last three students moved to other facilities" (Archive). Times Free Press. July 12, 2012. Retrieved on December 16, 2015.
7. "Youth Development Centers." Tennessee Department of Children's Services. Retrieved on December 8, 2012.
8. Brewer, Bill. "Teacher leads youth development center residents to second, third spots in Stock Market Game." Knoxville News Sentinel. May 2, 2010. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.
9. "JUVENILE DETENTION CENTERS, AND TEMPORARY HOLDING FACILITIES." Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. 4/4. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.
10. "Youth Development Centers." (list) Tennessee Department of Children's Services. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.

External links

• Tennessee Department of Children's Services
• Tennessee Department of Children's Services (Archive)