Current through December 26, 2024
(1) GENERAL: The
legal basis for licensing is contained in T.C.A. §§
71-3-501 et seq.
(2) DEFINITIONS:
(a)
Child- a person under 17
years of age.
(b)
Commissioner- The Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of
Children's Services.
(c)
Department- The Tennessee Department of Children's
Services.
(d)
Emergency
Shelter Care-Care available on a 24 hour basis. Its purpose is to
provide care for children in emergency cases. The length of care should not
extend beyond 30 days. In rare instances where longer care is required, the
reason should be documented in the case record.
(e)
Law- Tennessee Code
Annotated §§
71-3-501 et seq.
(f)
License- A yearly permit
issued to a Group Care or Family Boarding Home giving care to children.
Licensing is based on meeting required standards developed and published by the
Department.
(g)
Group Care
Home- The home operated by any person, agency, corporation or
institution or any group which receives seven or more children under 17 years
of age for full-time care outside their own homes in facilities owned or rented
and operated by the organization.
(h)
Family Boarding Home- A
home operated by any person society, agency, or facility, whether incorporated
or not, which provides full-time care for two or more children under 17 years
of age who are not related to such person and whose parents and guardians are
not residents of the same house for supervision, care, lodging and maintenance
with or without transfer of legal custody.
(i)
Staff- Full-time and
part-time employees.
(3)
BASIS FOR APPROVAL FOR LICENSE: All child welfare agencies as defined in T.C.A.
§
71-3-501 shall be licensed
annually by the Department, said license to be based on standards developed and
published for each child welfare agency in accordance with the following six
(6) points of excellence:
(a) The present need
for the proposed child welfare agency;
(b) The good character and intention of the
applicant;
(c) The adequate
financing of the organization;
(d)
The capability, training, and experience of the workers employed;
(e) The facilities for and the methods of
care provided, and the consideration of the best interest of the child and the
welfare of society in any placements of children to be made; and
(f) The probability of permanence of the
child welfare agency.
(4) LICENSING PROCEDURE:
(a) Application for license shall be made to
the Department upon blanks furnished by it together with a processing fee of
$10. Upon receipt of the application for a license, the Department shall issue
such child welfare agency a conditional license which shall be valid for a
period of ninety (90) days from the date of issuance; provided, that the staff
and facility do not present any apparent hazards to any children that may be in
care and that the facility has received fire safety and environmental
sanitation approval. At the end of the ninety (90) day period, upon evidence
provided by the applicant/licensee that such child welfare agency is suitable
and property managed as such, the Department shall issue such agency a license
which shall be valid for a period of one (1) year; provided, however, such
license may at any time be revoked by the Department upon ninety (90) day
notice being given to the licensee, or such license may be immediately
suspended by the Department, as provided by law, if the public health, safety,
or welfare imperatively so requires.
(b) When an application for a license has
been denied or a license has been revoked on one (1) occasion, the agency may
not reapply for a period of sixty (60) days from the date of the denial or
revocation. If such license has been denied or revoked on two (2) occasions,
the agency may not reapply for a period of six (6) months from the date of
denial or revocation. If such license has been denied or revoked on three (3)
or more occasions, the agency may not reapply for a period of twelve (12)
months from the date of denial or revocation. The Department may waive the time
restrictions herein upon a showing that the agency corrected the deficiencies
which led to the denial or revocation. For purposes of this chapter, the "date
of denial or revocation", in cases where an appeal has been filed, shall mean
the date on which any final administrative or judicial order has been entered
finally determining the appeal.
(c)
Upon written notice to the applicant that a request for a license has been
denied, such applicant may request a hearing before the Board of Review. Such
request must be made in writing and must be filed within ten (10) days of the
mailing date of the notice of denial. Such hearing must be granted at the next
regular meeting of said Board of Review provided, however, that no longer than
sixty (60) days shall elapse after such request and before such
hearing.
(d) If a license is
issued, revocation can be had at any time before expiration date upon ninety
(90) days notice by the Commissioner of the Department, such notice to contain
a statement of causes for revocation. The licensee may, upon a written request
filed within 10 days of the mailing of the notice of revocation, receive a
hearing before the Board of Review; provided that such review shall be within
the ninety (90) day period set out in the notice of revocation. Provided,
however, that any conduct or conditions which might jeopardize, the safety of
children shall be grounds or cause for immediate suspension of the license
pending the outcome of revocation procedures.
(e) Any child welfare agency, as defined in
T.C.A.
§
71-3-501, operating without being
so licensed by the Department shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be
imprisoned not more than six (6) months and fined not more than five hundred
($500) dollars, or both. Each day of operation without a license shall
constitute a separate offense.
(f)
It shall be the duty of the Department, through its duly authorized agents, to
inspect at regular intervals without previous notice, all child welfare
agencies as defined in T.C.A.
§
71-3-501, within the State. It is
given right of entrance, privilege of inspection, access to accounts and
records, information regarding the whereabouts of children under care for the
purpose of ascertaining the kind and quality of work done to obtain a proper
basis for its decisions and recommendations. Any violation of the rights given
in this section shall be a misdemeanor.
(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of
T.C.A.
§ 71-3-527, the Department shall have the
following authority and responsibilities in any case in which the Department
receives a report of harm in accordance with Part 4. or Part 6. of Chapter I of
Title 37 of
T.C.A.1. The
Department shall have the authority and responsibility to fully investigate, in
accordance with the provisions of Part 4. or Part 6. of Chapter 1, Title 37 of
T.C.A. any allegation of abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse which
it receives regarding any child or children in the care of any agency or person
whether or not such agency or person is subject to licensure hereunder. In the
conduct of such investigation, the Department shall be granted access to the
records of a children in the care of the person or agency and personnel files
of the director and all employees of the person or agency, shall be allowed to
inspect all premises in which children are kept or cared for, and shall be
allowed to interview any and all children in the care of such person or agency
if the Department determines such interviews are necessary.
2. If the Department determines that abuse,
neglect, or sexual abuse has occurred and the person or agency fails to take
appropriate action to prevent future abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse the
Department shall take such action as may be necessary to revoke, suspend, or
deny the agency's license, If the person or agency is not licensed or not
subject to licensure, the Department may proceed to bring an action in the
Chancery Court of the county of the defendant's residence or the county in
which the abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse occurred to enjoin the person or
agency or any individual found by the Department to have been responsible for
the abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse from continuing to provide care for
children on a full-time or part-time basis.
(5) PUBLIC AGENCIES: Any child welfare
agency, as defined by T.C.A.71-3-501, which is under
management of an administrative department of the state, a county or
municipality, or any combination of these three, shall not be subject to
license but shall meet the minimum standards of program and care as required of
such child welfare agencies. The Commissioner of the Department, through his
authorized agent, shall make periodic inspections of such public administrative
child welfare agencies. The report of such inspections and recommendations
shall be made privately to the executive head of the public administrative
child welfare agency, the Board of Directors, if any, and/or the Division of
the State, County, or Municipal Government which has the duty under the law to
operate such agency. It shall be the duty of the Department to cooperate with
the public administrative agencies herein referred to, to the end that such
recommended changes in program and policies can be adopted. If within a
reasonable time, such standards and recommendations are not met, it shall be
the duty of the Commissioner of the Department to make public in the community
in which this agency is located, the report of the above-mentioned inspection.
If any serious abuses, dereliction, or deficiencies are found and are not
corrected within a reasonable time, the same shall be reported in writing to
the next session of the legislature.
(6) PLACEMENT IN TEMPORARY HOMES OR FOR
ADOPTION: Private individuals including midwives, physicians, nurses, hospital
officials, lawyers, and the officials of any non-chartered and/or non-licensed
child caring institution, child placing agency, or maternity home, are
forbidden to engage in placing children for temporary care or for adoption.
Violation of this restriction shall be punishable by imprisonment for eleven
(11) months, twenty-nine (29) days or a fine not to exceed twenty-five hundred
($2,500) dollars, or both.
(7)
AMENDED ADOPTION LAW: No person, corporation, or agency except the Department
of Children's Services or an agency licensed by the Department as a
child-placing agency shall engage in placing children for adoption; provided,
however, this section shall not be construed to prohibit any person from
advising a natural or prospective adoptive parents of the availability of
adoption or from acting as an agent for the natural or prospective adoptive
parents in making necessary arrangements for adoption so long as no fees are
charged for such service other than the usual and customary legal and medical
fees in connection with the birth of the child and the legal proceedings
relative to adoption. Any court of competent jurisdiction, upon the filing of a
verified bill for injunction by the State of Tennessee, on behalf of the State
Department of Children's Services or by an agency, or by any person aggrieved,
may temporarily enjoin or restrain any person, corporation, or agency, from
engaging or attempting to engage in placing children for adoption in violation
or threatened violation, Part I., Chapter 1, of Title 36 of the
T.C.A. relative to adoption, and upon final hearing, if the
court determines that there has been a violation, or threatened violation,
thereof, the injunction shall be made permanent.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
4-5-226(b)(2);4-5-320;
36-1-134; 37-1-401 et seq., 37-1-601 et seq., 37-5-101; 37-5-105;37-5-106;
37-5-112(a); 71-1-105(12) and 71-3-501 et seq.
