KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Nov. 16, ProPublica published a report that described conditions inside the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center — a facility that houses children convicted of crimes. It's located in Knox County and takes in children and teenagers from across the state.
ProPublica is a publication with the specific mission to expose abuses of power and "betrayals of the public trust by government, business, and other institutions, using the moral force of investigative journalism to spur reform through the sustained spotlighting of wrongdoing." In its report on Knoxville's juvenile facility, it said the Richard L. Bean "illegally locks kids alone in cells."
The report details practices in the facility that it said did not keep up with changing laws and rules. In one instance, it said Bean wrote down his initials on forms used to document how long a child was secluded from other children, instead of writing down the time they were allowed to leave seclusion.
By writing down "RLB" instead of a specific time, the report said the Department of Children's Services could not tell how long children were alone. Despite Bean flouting the rules surrounding seclusion, ProPublica reported the facility continued to have its license renewed.
WBIR reached out to Bean for comment towards the end of the business day on the ProPublica report and was referred to the Chair of the Board of the facility. He said he wanted more time to investigate before issuing a statement.
Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D - Nashville) released a statement about the report, calling it "damning." The full statement is below.
"The Department of Children’s Services needs to answer for the alleged violations of state law made in this damning report by ProPublica. Juvenile jailers may not agree with state detention policy, but they have a duty to carry out the law. And the Department has an obligation to make sure state-licensed facilities are in compliance and acting in the best interest of children in their custody.
Our youth desperately need better outcomes from our juvenile justice system, but we can’t get there if the Department won’t hold state-licensed detention facilities accountable for following the law."
Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) also released a statement about Bean and the ProPublica report. It is available below.
“It would be unacceptable for a juvenile detention administrator to keep their job after bragging to a reporter how they’ve broken the law and gotten away with it. For the sake of rebuilding trust in our community, Bean needs to go immediately.
But Gov. Bill Lee’s hands aren’t clean either. This infuriating report is just the latest example of how Gov. Lee and the Dept. of Children’s Services are failing a generation of kids.
DCS has the sole responsibility to police these juvenile detention facilities and this report, as well as others, make clear the administration is not up to the task.
Our kids will pay the price and taxpayers will foot the bill.“
In 2015, WBIR toured the facility with Bean. In it, Bean told WBIR that he focuses on rehabilitation instead of punishment, giving children opportunities to check out books and visit a barbershop in the facility. In 2015, he also said most of their days are spent in a classroom.
The facility also keeps a family of goats at the center, and leaders said they are often used as a kind of "goat therapy."