The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has suspended the child care license of the Baptiste Group, closing the Chattanooga shelter for unaccompanied migrant children.
In a news release Thursday evening, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services said the license was suspended due to a series of issues related to the facility, including an allegation of child abuse and a teenage boy running away from the shelter in mid-June. All children were moved from the facility on June 22.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, a member of the state’s special committee investigating immigration, told the Times Free Press the license was also suspended because of staffing concerns.
“I’ve been informed by DCS that they’ve suspended the license for lack of qualified people to take care of the children,” Gardenhire said. “So therefore they’re going to suspend their license in light of the problems they’ve had.”
The shelter in Highland Park was run by Georgia-based Baptiste Group through a federal contract with the Department of Health and Human Services. The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, under the administration of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, approved the child care license for the facility in May 2020 and children began arriving there in November 2020.