The Baptiste Group, which operated the Highland Park shelter for unaccompanied migrant children, is seeking to renew its license with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.
The department suspended the license last summer amid concerns about potential child abuse at the site. Three workers have been arrested and face charges related to abuse of minors.
The news that The Baptiste Group, which operates under the name La Case de Sidney, wants to renew its license came in a court filing with the 12th Judicial District Chancery Court. The license technically expires Feb. 27, and The Baptiste Group argues the department has not made an effort to begin the renewal process.
“It is TBG’s understanding that usually the department’s licensing office will contact a licensed facility some weeks before the license expires to schedule a final inspection and determine whether the license should be renewed. The department has not done this,” The Baptiste Group argued in the court filing.
(READ MORE: Tennessee’s special refugee committee recommends more regulation, oversight of migrants)
Jennifer Donnals, chief of staff for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, said in an email to the Times Free Press the agency could not comment on the license renewal because of pending litigation.
The Baptiste Group’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment Friday from the Times Free Press.
The Baptiste Group is also facing a legal challenge in Hamilton County from Redemption to the Nations, the megachurch in Highland Park that was leasing unused space to the group to house the unaccompanied children. The church stood to be paid around $3 million from the lease agreement but has argued in court filings The Baptiste Group stopped making rent payments.
Gretchen Baptiste, co-owner of The Baptiste Group, told the Times Free Press in January her organization remains current with paying the monthly rent but the church is not depositing the funds.
The Georgia-based group was given a federal contract to shelter unaccompanied minors under former President Donald Trump. The state licensed the shelter and renewed the license for the Chattanooga shelter under Gov. Bill Lee, doubling the number of children allowed, from 50 to 100, in February 2021. Then TV station WRCB began showing video of children traveling at night to the shelter, and a hailstorm of GOP criticism of the operation began. The license was suspended in July.
Contact Wyatt Massey at wmassey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @news4mass.