A new class action lawsuit alleges that child welfare agencies illegally and unconstitutionally detain children with disabilities in prison-like facilities where they pepper spray the children, assault them, and deny them their rights to education and health care.
The sweeping 114-page complaint, filed Wednesday in Nashville federal court, is packed with page after page of details about “the horrific experiences of young people trapped in (DCS) custody.” Here are some excerpts:
• A 17-year-old boy was hit more than 31 times.
• A 15-year-old girl was shackled, dragged across the floor and placed in a cell, then pepper-sprayed while naked.
• One juvenile detention facility in Middle Tennessee experiences 48 incidents of pepper spray use each month.
• Children are locked in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, denied education or mental health care, and sleep on bare beds in insect-infested cells.
• Several DCS facilities targeted children who complained about staff or the environment at the facilities and used “bounties” to encourage them to attack other children. Ramen noodles were a popular reward for children who hit other children, according to the lawsuit.
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“We’ve tried our best over the last two years to change these systems, but we’ve been unsuccessful,” said Jack Derryberry, legal director for the Tennessee Disability Rights Coalition, which is leading the legal challenge.
“At this point, we have no choice but to ask the courts to intervene to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” he said.
The complaint also names DCS Commissioner Margie Quinn, the Tennessee Department of Education and its commissioner, Lizette Reynolds, and seeks class status to represent what attorneys estimate are more than 1,000 Tennessee youth with disabilities in state custody through the juvenile justice system.
The state argues that the charges violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, the 14th Amendment, which protects states against excessive force, unlawful imprisonment and medical negligence, and the Eighth Amendment, which protects states against cruel and unusual punishment.
Amy Lannom-Wilhite, a spokeswoman for Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scurmetti, responded on behalf of DCS, saying the agency is aware of the lawsuit but would not comment.
The lawsuit comes after years of turmoil and chaos for children in DCS custody, who have struggled to find safe and appropriate places for their children in Tennessee.
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Children are forced to sleep on floors in state office buildings and left in hospital rooms months past their expected release dates. Recently, DCS announced it plans to place the children in group homes that have served severely disabled adults for more than a decade. The move has raised concerns among families of adults facing possible removal because of their children, who accuse state officials of pitting vulnerable people against each other.
Children come into DCS custody either because of suspected neglect or abuse in the home, or after they have been referred to juvenile court for trouble with the law, not attending school or other infractions.
The lawsuit seeks to protect children with disabilities who would otherwise be placed into DCS custody through juvenile court.
There are about 600 to 650 youth housed in DCS juvenile justice facilities at any one time, totaling 1,200 to 1,400 per year, and based on national data, an estimated 65 to 85 percent are living with a disability, Derryberry said.
Some of these children are routinely denied legally mandated accommodations and have little or no access to mental health or other medical services, sometimes as a form of punishment, according to the lawsuits. Children are denied psychiatric medication as punishment for perceived infractions and denied treatment for self-harm behaviors.
Children in juvenile detention centers also aren’t receiving the proper education required by law, according to the lawsuit.
The Youth Law Center and the Sanford Heisler Sharp law firm (represented in the case by former federal judge Kevin Sharp) filed the lawsuit along with the Tennessee Disability Rights Association, seeking class-action status.
2024-06-26 – DRT v. Tennessee DCS, et al. – Final Complaint
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