NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF-TV) — Josh Rothe regrets taking a security guard job at the Tennessee Department of Children's Services transitional home in Davidson County.
"The kids are in a place where it's just, it's cruel," Rothe said.
He started shortly after DCS changed its policy allowing the handcuffing of abused and neglected children like those in transitional homes. We talk with him about how little training he received around use of handcuffs in the video above.
There were 33 transitional homes in use across the state at the end of last month, according to DCS.
The department opened the homes last year to keep kids from being forced to sleep in state offices while waiting to get into foster care.
Rothe said although he handcuffed kids at the Davidson County home, he never received any training on dealing with vulnerable children, handcuffing or deescalation techniques.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked, "What did you know when it came to handcuffs?"
"Absolutely nothing," Rothe responded.
"But they gave you handcuffs," we followed.
"Basically I had to buy my own," Rothe said.
"Are guards in general getting training on handcuffs?" we asked.
"No," Rothe said.
Rothe worked for Blue Line Security, a Wartburg, Tennessee-based company that DCS temporarily hired under an emergency spending provision when it opened the transitional homes.
It meant DCS and Blue Line did not have a contract that required things like de-escalation training for guards.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates found the state fined Blue Line in 2023 for using unlicensed security guards at a facility. That same year DCS paid the company $4.5 million to provide security at transition homes.
Rothe said he was disgusted when he saw our report showing a security guard holding a 12-year-old boy face down on a mattress while handcuffing him at a transitional home in East Tennessee.
As NewsChannel 5 Investigates first reported, internal DCS emails show the guard started "yelling and cussing" at the 70-pound boy who was "intellectually disabled" and believed to have "autism."
The emails also show the guard had not been trained "in skills around de-escalation."
Jeff Strand with the Tennessee Disability Coalition said the DCS policy allowing handcuffing of kids in transitional homes is wrong, but it's especially bad if guards are not getting basic training.
"If somebody is going to be in the presence of kids with disabilities, especially those with behavior needs, in what are likely traumatic circumstances, they absolutely need to be trained on this," Strand said.
The new DCS policy requires mechanical restraint training for those handcuffing children, but internal emails show some officials believed de-escalation training should also be required.
Administrators worried about the logistics of conducting all the training needed.
Shortly after the policy went into place, an email sent to DCS Commissioner Margie Quin from an administrator stated getting all that training done "will present a great challenge."
Commissioner Quin defended the policy when she told lawmakers last month that kids in transitional homes are often violent.
"Our staff are attacked on a fairly regular basis by kids, violently attacked," Commissioner Quin said.
She said sometimes juvenile court judges order kids with serious charges into foster care, and they wind up in transitional homes.
"By serious I mean very serious, like rape, attempted first-degree murder, carjacking, armed robbery," Quin told lawmakers during a committee hearing.
But when we asked DCS how many kids in transitional homes had any of those charges — on the day after her testimony — the answer was zero.
DCS quickly pointed out some of the kids had other charges like aggravated sexual battery, joy riding and vandalism. Employees told us most kids are simply traumatized after being removed from abusive homes.
"When I walk in you can just see the poor conditions to where these kids have nothing to do," Rothe said.
Rothe said it's wrong to blame the kids, and he called the conditions inside the Davidson County home "deplorable." He took pictures of exposed wiring, mold-covered sinks and bathrooms, and stained rugs at the home.
"A lot of them are depressed and just want to go home. They want to go home and talk to their families. A lot of them pace back and forth," Rothe said.
He pointed out that the 12-year-old handcuffed in East Tennessee was sleeping on a mattress on the floor.
He said that is what he saw in Davidson County when he arrived.
"They don't take care of these kids, and that's why I'm upset," Rothe said.
He believes the kids need counseling and better conditions.
He said any security guards with the authority to handcuff should be trained to deal with vulnerable kids.
"They need to have somebody who is qualified to do this stuff and if they can't have that, they need to shut it down," Rothe said.
DCS has hired a new security company to provide security guards to transitional homes at an expected annual cost of $3 million.
The new contract requires guards to be current or former law enforcement officers who have previous training in de-escalation techniques, but it does not require any additional training on dealing with at-risk and vulnerable children.
But some DCS employees remain concerned about allowing outside guards to use handcuffs on the children in DCS care.
What DCS told us
Transitional home/security guard concerns
Commissioner Quin continues to be transparent about opportunities within DCS transitional homes. In all cases, when we are notified of damage at a location, work to repair or replace begins immediately. Transitional homes also undergo regular inspections by outside agencies to ensure safety standards are met. In addition, the security guards working at these locations are required to attend DCS training courses on trauma, applying handcuffs, verbal de-escalation, and physical intervention.
DCS policy concerns
DCS policies are frequently reviewed and updated. The department also notifies the appropriate members of the legislature when policy changes are made, as required by law. In addition, all DCS policies are publicly available on the department’s website.
