Tennessee Democrats press DCS for answers on private youth prison safety

Lawmakers question $400M juvenile facility expansion

Four Democratic state lawmakers sent the letter to the Department of Children’s Services following reporting by WPLN/Nashville Public Radio and ProPublica that found Wayne Halfway House facilities “repeatedly failed to report abuse of children and other serious incidents to the state as required.” The investigation involved interviews with dozens of former staff and youth and a review of emergency call logs, company records and state documents, according to the news organizations. Wayne Halfway House, run by Tennessee businessman Jason Crews, operates all three of the state’s highest-security youth prisons.

“The allegations that serious physical and sexual abuse, dangerous restraints, injuries, and other critical incidents have gone unreported by WHH demand an urgent, transparent, and independently verifiable response from the Department of Children’s Services,” the letter states.

After WPLN and ProPublica shared a copy of the letter with the company, a Wayne Halfway House spokesperson said the company “continues to meet or exceed performance standards set by Tennessee,” citing state audits. The spokesperson also said Wayne Halfway House has helped more than 200 youth earn a high school diploma or equivalent in the last three years.

In earlier emailed statements to the news organizations about the underlying reporting, the company said it follows state policy and law and “vehemently denies” that Crews or his company ever discouraged staff from reporting serious or life-threatening incidents to the state. The company described former employees who spoke to reporters as “untrustworthy sources” with a “clear bias” against the company and called their allegations “substantially flawed.”

The lawmakers are asking DCS for answers to several specific questions, including what steps the department is taking to address the allegations, how much the state spends placing youth in Wayne Halfway House facilities, and who is being considered to operate new juvenile facilities the department is building. They also requested a meeting with department leadership.

“We also request an opportunity to meet with Department leadership to discuss these issues, review the Department’s response, and identify the legislative and administrative actions necessary to ensure that no child’s safety depends on abuse first becoming a news story,” the letter states.

The Department of Children’s Services previously said it was looking into incidents uncovered by the original WPLN and ProPublica reporting. The department did not respond to a request for comment on the lawmakers’ letter.

The lawmakers framed the current letter as part of a “long and deeply troubling record of reports” on juvenile justice facilities in Tennessee. They referenced earlier WPLN and ProPublica reporting that found a county-run East Tennessee juvenile detention center was locking children in solitary confinement in violation of state law. The department said it would take steps to address those 2023 findings; the superintendent of that facility, Richard Bean, later stepped down.

State Sen. Heidi Campbell, one of the letter’s signatories, had pushed for independent oversight of juvenile justice facilities in 2024, after the East Tennessee reporting. Campbell and others working on that bill said a lobbyist for Wayne Halfway House asked them to exempt privately run facilities from oversight. The bill failed. The lobbyist told the news organizations at the time that the company was concerned about giving regulatory power to an outside agency “without more extensive consideration.”

The letter also flags Tennessee’s planned juvenile justice spending. Lawmakers wrote that the state plans to spend more than $400 million to build additional facilities. They noted that the cost to hold 31 youth at a Wayne Halfway House facility for a year is roughly the same as it would take the state to expand grocery benefits for 700,000 school-aged children during the summer.

“Given the amount of money Tennessee is currently spending, and plans to invest, in juvenile justice and residential facilities, we have serious concerns about repeated findings and allegations of lack of oversight, transparency, and accountability in these facilities,” the letter states.