TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on Jul 6, 2023

Zoe Jamail, a policy coordinator for Disability Rights Tennessee, said during a hearing Thursday that new rules proposed by the Department of Children's Services (DCS) to increase accountability could open the door to more privatized youth prisons in Tennessee, reports the Tennessean. In May, DCS proposed a new subcategory: hardware secure residential childcare agencies (HSRCCAs). The term refers to prison-like security conditions, the most restrictive setting the department can place a youth. Jamail said implementation of the rules could create the "potential for the unnecessary institutionalization of youth with disabilities in facilities that are effectively exempt from requirements that are vital to the safety of children."