A Call to Action: Advancing Tennessee’s Juvenile Justice System to Strengthen Families, Communities, and Oversight

February 15, 2024

About the Report:

What would it look like if Tennessee’s juvenile justice system prioritized strengthening families, connecting youth to their home communities, and creating safe environments that promote healing, growth, and being held accountable for one’s actions? Instead, Tennessee’s youth continue to suffer, primarily Black youth with disabilities. Disability Rights Tennessee (DRT) and Youth Law Center (YLC) remain concerned about the safety of youth in Tennessee’s juvenile justice facilities like Wilder Youth Development Center. The A Call to Action: Advancing Tennessee’s Juvenile Justice System to Strengthen Families, Communities, and Oversight report offers research-based action steps to overhaul Tennessee’s juvenile justice system. This third report builds on Disability Rights Tennessee and the Youth Law Center’s first two reports, Designed to Fail and Families Not Facilities, to offer solutions related to Tennessee’s juvenile justice system, which is overseen by the Department of Children’s Services.

Read the Full Report: A Call to Action: Advancing Tennessee’s Juvenile Justice System to Strengthen Families, Communities, and Oversight

Read the Executive Summary: A Call to Action: Advancing Tennessee’s Juvenile Justice System to Strengthen Families, Communities, and Oversight

Read the Press Release: New Report is an Urgent Call to Action for Improving Tennessee’s Juvenile Justice System

For more information, contact:

Lee Sherwood at Disability Rights Tennessee, email: LeeS@DisabilityRightsTN.org; cell/text 409-771-0098

Jasmine Miller at Youth Law Center, email: JMiller@YLC.org; cell/text: 615.480.7992

Media:

WPLN – New report is a call to action to improve Tennessee’s juvenile justice system

Commercial Appeal – After reports of problems in TN juvenile justice facilities, new report outlines solutions

Links to Previous Reports

Designed to Fail: A Report on Wilder Youth Development Center, a Department of Children’s Services Facility

Families Not Facilities: Workable Solutions to Protect the Vulnerable Youth in the Department of Children’s Services’ Failing System