NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Governor Bill Lee's office called the head of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth with concerns before the release of the annual "State of the Child Report."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates obtained a copy of the initial report which had a section criticizing the Department of Children's Services and the lack of foster care in Tennessee.
After the call from the governor's office, that section was removed and replaced with information about the "goal of foster care."
Richard Kennedy, executive director with Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, confirmed the governor's office called prior to the release of the report.
"There were some concerns that were raised about what could be the takeaways from the report," Kennedy said.
Kennedy would not say he was pressured, but the Commission did remove a section that cited "a high level of turnover" at DCS "and case counts well above Tennessee's existing caseload laws."
"We made the decision to substitute data and information that had already been out there in the media with something that we were hopeful could be more solutions-focused," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said despite concerns from the governor's office, the Commission left in another section of the report.
That section stated, "Tennessee struggles with foster care instability at a level not seen in the rest of the country."
It stated, "Puerto Rico had the closest instability rate."
Foster care instability tracks how many times a child moves once in the foster care system.
"We left it in because it's data that the Department of Children's Services reports to the federal government," Kennedy said.
DCS later came back and said it miscalculated some of those numbers.
Kennedy said he had never before been contacted by the governor's office prior to the release of a State of the Child Report.
"I can tell you this is my first experience with anyone from the governor's office talking with me about the report," Kennedy said.
After our interview, Kennedy learned that a bill to dismantle the Commission on Children and Youth had been put on hold.
The bill's sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said it would not move forward this year.
Sen. Johnson's statement said the bill had generated important conversation about the Commission and its "lack of accountability to taxpayers."
After word got out about the proposal to end the independent Commission with its 30 employees and $6.4 million budget, child advocacy groups called lawmakers in support of the agency.
Kennedy would not link the bill to dismantle the commission to the critical State of the Child Report.
But he did say, "I don't know if there is a correlation, but I think the timing is interesting."
Gov. Bill Lee's spokesperson sent a statement saying, "any outreach from our office to the team at TCCY was a good faith effort to ensure accuracy and that proper context was included with the data."
Here is the is the full statement from the governor's office:
"The Governor has emphasized a strong commitment to better serve Tennessee children for years, and especially over the last several months. The Governor has been on the record extensively on the importance of breaking down silos and improving government efficiency. Initial steps in moving TCCY programs into state Departments were included in the Governor’s Budget proposal to the General Assembly as well as in the State of the State, and planning began well before the publishing of the Kids Count report. To be clear, any outreach from our office to the team at TCCY was a good faith effort to ensure accuracy and that proper context was included with the data."
