TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jan 29, 2026

A total of 445 youth spent at least one night in the offices of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS) in 2025. The Tennessean reports that the average office stay was around a week, while the longest topped out at 102 days. DCS says that an influx of high-need cases and the closure of several transitional homes contributed to the 400% increase over 2024 numbers. The issue has been under scrutiny since 2021 when it was first revealed that hundreds of kids were spending the night in offices. In early 2023, the department told lawmakers that childen were no longer sleeping in offices, save for a few in Shelby County who would be placed soon. The practice began again in November 2023 according to the paper.