TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on May 21, 2025

A new lawsuit brought on behalf of 13 children alleges that foster kids in Tennessee are being denied basic rights to education, health care and stable homes, and have been kept in unsafe institutions or moved through multiple foster families for years at a time, Tennessee Lookout reports. The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Children’s Services has violated children’s constitutional rights and federal law. Led by a national team of child welfare attorneys, the suit is seeking court approval for class-action status to represent all 9,000 children in the state’s foster care system. Firms involved include Bass, Berry & Sims, A Better Childhood, the Barbara McDowell Social Justice Center, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and Wang Hecker. This is the second class-action lawsuit filed in the last year alleging mistreatment.