This is nothing new for the tennessee Dept of Children Services.
They are being sued by a family for removing a child from a family and placing the kid with a registered sex offender who molested the kid. The charges against the family which the removal was based upon were thrown out in court and the judge admonished DCS. But DCS still refused to return the child to the parents and about a month later was when the molestation was found.
In another lawsuit DCS placed another kid with a couple who killed it. That removal was also tossed out in court and the judge blamed the DCS case worker for the death.
A DCS worker was arrested and charged for failing to report abuse in a foster care home.
And another was just recently arrested along with 3 others for attempted child rape.
DCS in Tennessee is not only a joke but dangerous.
The demands the system places upon kinship parents is well above and beyond the demands placed upon non kinship foster parents. IOW the birth parents almost get to literally tell the kinship FP's what to do.
All too often in Tennessee Kinship Foster parent are threatened with the following threats of violence toward them or family members, legal harassment's especially if the kinship FP's are witnesses on behalf of the children, being stalked, followed, by birth parents, if they get your cell number being called when you are doing something, getting up to three calls per week which ties up three nights per week, supervising visitations, having LEO's called to check your residence, having the birth parents to get the children to act out even in dangerous manners, having the birth parents threaten the children, witness intimidation of the children by the birth parents, violation after violation of standing court orders by the birth parents.
Parental rights in Tennessee are generally never terminated. Kids can spend from toddler to 18 in foster care while birth parents play the system.
DCS is supposed to protect the kids yet much of their parenting classes focuses on the birth mother and even at some points giving her victim status.
It isn't easy to become a certified FP in Tennessee and even family if they take in nieces, nephews, grand kids, etc must get certification by DCS. This means a 9 week class, an extensive background check finger prints of everyone in the home including 98 year old grandma, pictures of the pets, escape plans from the home, a written list of all house rules posted on the wall, fire extinguishers, First Aid and CPR courses, an auto biography answering questions which are no ones not even DCS business, your home open to DCS inspections anytime, you loose your privacy, you are not allowed to talk to the children about what happened to them it seems {in a family case that just doesn't work}, and the list goes on. In the first year after certification you must also attend six additional classes. Again this is mandatory even if they are your blood kin.
Your case worker from DCS in some cases might be an immature one with no real discernment in even knowing how to deal with the kids or the birth parents. In other words easilly conned. The ones who are mothers or fathers themselves tend to be better caseworkers as they understand what parenting actually is.
The parenting classes are not taught by DCS they are contracted out and the courses written by some university so you know what that means. A person who has never raised a kid may well be your instructor. The courses are basically useless propaganda with about 15% actually useful information. The rest is garbage straight out of DR Spocks books of horrors on how most of us know not to parent. Oh and classes are Amen Corners by all attending especially kinship FP's. You must believe all the propaganda or pretend you do like most FP's do.
You can have a child you know needs skilled mental health help for example far above and beyond the level they are receiving. DCS all too often refuses that help. The caseworkers will lie to your face in some cases.
I have my own experiences and horror story with them. They do not prepare for court meaning doing depositions, witness interviews, etc and in many cases key witnesses never get to testify. The G.A.L. system in Tennessee from what I've experienced is the pits also. These are the court appointed attorney guardians for the kids. They as well fail to respond to things reported to them. They are not making sure that DCS is getting the kids needed help.
All in all it's a horrid situation in our state. There needs to be a cleaning out of management from the top down to the local field office supervisors.
The lawmakers also need to give the judges some mandatory guidelines which included parental rights terminations when parents refuse to come into compliance with court orders. DCS needs to by law be required to report all court order violations by the birth parents to the judges. This as well does not get done.