KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Around 230 young people were placed with providers outside Tennessee after the state's Department of Children's Services said it had insufficient resources to support them.
The department said to make sure the kids had the resources they needed, it expanded its placement network to include providers outside Tennessee. The department's problem was not generally related to a lack of foster homes. Instead, the department said most of the children had complex needs and needed more care than what a typical foster home could provide.
However, the department also said in an email that some children were placed out of state "simply due to capacity limitations in Tennessee."
"There is also limited capacity in out-of-state systems, so our youth need to be spread out based on their needs and the available capacity in other systems," the department said.
The department said as of the end of October, 229 children were placed with out-of-state providers. It is working to recruit additional providers, and its "Real Estate Plan" is aimed at creating additional capacity in the state.
That plan will use $19 million to start designing two new juvenile justice centers. It also said $88 million would go to building nine new intake facilities and assessment centers across the state.