“The State should recognize disabilities and trauma in the youth they serve and address those disabilities instead of ignoring them,” said Jack Derryberry, the legal director of Disability Rights Tennessee. “We have spent the last two years doing everything in our power to effect changes in these systems, without success.”
A prospective class-action lawsuit accuses Tennessee of forcing disabled children in its state-run juvenile detention centers to endure neglect, abuse, and “barbaric” violence.
The 114-page complaint was filed in U.S. federal court earlier this week. In it, attorneys representing the plaintiffs—parents, children, and a non-profit organization—allege that the state has failed to provide disabled detainees with adequate opportunities to continue their educations and receive critical rehabilitative support.
The lawsuit also claims that vulnerable inmates are victims of targeted violence, with physical assaults having been perpetrated both by facility staff and by other residents.
“All children deserve appropriate education and healthcare. All children deserve to feel safe,” said Youth Law Center attorney Jasmine Miller. “Across the country, we are seeing real progress in juvenile justice reform and how the most vulnerable youth are treated once they enter the system. Unfortunately, Tennessee is not progressing.”
According to the complaint, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services—which administers state-run detention centers, and is responsible for the maintenance of private-provider facilities—either permits or tolerates disciplinary practices that violate state law. Solitary confinement, for instance, is allegedly routinely employed for the purposes of “administrative convenience and punishment.”
Attorneys provide the example of a detainee identified by the initials “G.B.,” who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and ADHD. While in custody, G.B. was purportedly sent to isolation “dozens of times” for minor disciplinary infractions, such as “spraying soap” and “not leaving a toilet quickly enough.” In total, G.B. was placed in solitary confinement about 50 times.
Another child, “J.W.,” has post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and has exhibited symptoms of psychosis. However, though J.W. allegedly suffers from severe and potentially debilitating mental health conditions, he was once sent to solitary confinement for “laughing.”
J.W. also says that he was physically assaulted “by his peers four times at the behest of a Facility staff member,” who placed “noodles on [J.W.’s] had” and offered “packs of ramen noodles” as a reward to any detainees willing to attack him.
J.W.’s account, lawyers say, has been corroborated by “Multiple Youth.”
The complaint contends that the State of Tennessee, the Department of Child Services, and other defendants were aware of similar allegations long before the lawsuit was ever filed. However, they broadly failed to enforce isolation-related policies, address the issue of widespread physical assaults, or provide staff with training to identify and better respond to behavioral disturbances.
“Tennessee state agencies have completely abdicated their duties and obligations to these youth and are causing irreparable harm to young people every single day,” Miller said.
“The State should recognize disabilities and trauma in the youth they serve and address those disabilities instead of ignoring them,” said Jack Derryberry, the legal director of Disability Rights Tennessee. “We have spent the last two years doing everything in our power to effect changes in these systems, without success. At this point, we have no choice but to ask the Courts to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
Attorneys from several organizations—including the Youth Law Center, Disability Rights Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.-based Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP—are litigating the claim, with the lawsuit listing Disability Rights Tennessee both as co-counsel and as an individual plaintiff.
Sources
Lawsuit: Children with disabilities in Tennessee custody subject to ‘barbaric violence’
Tennessee DCS sued for ‘abuse, violence’ against children with disabilities
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