NASHVILLE — Tennessee Democratic lawmakers are skewering Republican Gov. Bill Lee for pushing legislation to abolish the state’s 35-year-old independent Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth.
Senate Bill 282 and its House companion, House Bill 330, would move the commission’s funding, operations and mission under the governor’s direct control in the Department of Children’s Services and other agencies.
Lee’s move came after the unique, independent and quasi-governmental commission — which serves as a policy advocate, think tank and watchdog — said in its annual State of the Child Report that Tennessee had the nation’s highest rate of foster care instability in the nation.
The report found that in 2020, Tennessee’s rate of instability was 33.7%. That exceeded No. 2, Puerto Rico, which had an instability rate of 25.9%. The national rate is 14.9%, according to the United Health Foundation. Instability is defined as the percentage of children in foster care with three or more placements within a 12-month period.
State Sen. London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, called the Lee administration bill to eliminate the Commission on Children and Youth an abomination last week.