At least 164 children living in facilities operated or licensed by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services have tested positive for COVID-19, the biggest known outbreak in the nation linked to a single child welfare agency.
The children, both boys and girls, tested positive inside county juvenile detention centers licensed by DCS, in 49 residential facilities privately operated by DCS contractors for kids age 10 and up and at Wilder Youth Development Center in Fayette County, a secure facility for teens found delinquent that is managed directly by DCS.
There are 788 cases across the nation of children infected while living in facilities overseen by child welfare agencies, making Tennessee home to one in five of all infected children under state oversight, according to Josh Rovner, senior advocacy associate with The Sentencing Project, which is tracking the spread of COVID-19 among children in state custody.
Only Arizona, with 98 cases of COVID-19 among children overseen by that state’s welfare agency, and Florida, with 85, come close to Tennessee, Rovner said.
“As someone who has been tracking COVID-19 in youth facilities since March, I can say that the numbers out of Tennessee are stunning,” Rovner said. “It raises important questions about what steps – if any at all – have been taken to slow the spread among this vulnerable and captive population.”