At least 83 children living in residential treatment facilities that contract with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services to provide round-the-clock therapeutic care have tested positive for COVID-19 since July 1, part of a surge in childhood infections across the state.
The nonprofit and for-profit organizations that provide psychiatric, behavioral and other care to abused and neglected children in state custody are given guidance from the Department of Children’s Services.
But the facilities make their own decisions about how to care for children during the pandemic, not subject to the kinds of public debates taking place around the state about schoolchildren and the virus.
Most of the facilities provide their own on-site classrooms. Children sleep, eat, play, study and live together 24-7. Some also house children who are not in custody.
As of Aug. 31, 154 children in these facilities were in quarantine, while another 48 were awaiting COVID-19 test results, according to data provided by DCS.