Amid a housing crisis for children in state custody, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee isn’t considering a special session of the state legislature but is looking at options for solving the problem immediately.
Meanwhile, a group of Democrats is urging the governor to take action now to keep children from sleeping in offices and, in some cases, spending months in hospitals.
Lee told reporters after budget hearings the state needs to raise the pay level of caseworkers and hire more personnel to reduce the workload within the Department of Children’s Services.
“We’re also looking at short-term solutions with privatization of those providing services. We need to do better by those kids, and we’re going to,” Lee said.
Children’s Services Commissioner Margie Quin sought $156 million in new funding from the governor in budget hearings last week and described a scenario in which children in state custody are sleeping in offices and being sent to hospitals for months at a time, because the state has no place else to place them.