Tennessee child deaths due to suspected abuse or neglect rose nearly 30% in 2023

Margie Quin, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, pictured on June 2, 2023. (Photo: John Partipilo)

A three-year-old boy shot himself in the head after getting his hands on his father’s unsafe Ruger 9mm semi-automatic firearm.

A 4-year-old girl was found dead in a garbage bin.

And a 3-month-old baby was found blue, silent and alone on his very first day at an unlicensed daycare, where six babies had been abandoned by caregivers. He did not survive.

These are among the 190 children who died last year and are being investigated by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services for suspected abuse and neglect. That’s a nearly 30 percent increase from the previous year and the highest number of suspected child neglect and abuse deaths in Tennessee in nearly a decade, according to an analysis of DCS data by Lookout.

More than two-thirds of the children had come to the attention of DCS caseworkers within three years of their deaths. In some cases, DCS was actively investigating a family when a child died. In other cases, children died after DCS had completed its involvement with the family and closed the case.

Eleven children were being held by DCS when they died, including a 16-year-old girl who ran away from a DCS facility and then overdosed on heroin in a public park.

DCS is required by federal law and a 2012 court order to release records related to the deaths of children it investigates. Those records document all DCS interactions with the child and their family and the agency’s final findings about whether the death was the result of abuse or neglect.

It could be years before the public can see that data. The agency’s investigation into suspected abuse deaths from 2021 is still ongoing. Records of all but 19 child deaths from 2023 have not yet been released to the public.

Delays keep children’s records secret from public

A DCS spokesperson attributed the delay in investigating suspected assault deaths to several factors:

DCS must wait until a Child Protective Investigative Team, made up of local prosecutors, law enforcement officers and other members, has investigated a child’s death and considered criminal charges, a process that can take months and sometimes years, said Ashley Zarach, a DCS spokesperson, in response to emailed questions.

The agency is also experiencing delays in receiving autopsies, toxicology reports and medical records.

According to DCS, new laws were passed this year to expedite autopsies on children who came to DCS’ attention before they died.

When asked to explain the increase in suspected child abuse deaths last year, Zarach said there “does not appear to be a causal relationship or statistical significance for any increase/decrease in deaths year-over-year.”

“The number of deaths does not follow data trends compared to other abuse/neglect allegations,” Zarach said, noting that child deaths have remained stable during the pandemic despite a significant decline in reports of child abuse.

She added that child deaths from unsafe sleep appear to be increasing and that increases in fentanyl deaths and unintentional shootings may also be partly to blame.

Zarach did not respond to a question about whether aid workers have faced disciplinary action for their handling of cases involving children who ultimately died.

‘Needles in a haystack’

The deaths of children previously known to child protection agencies have become a hot political topic in recent years, with advocates of more out-of-home placements of vulnerable children pitted against those who want to limit the state’s power to break up families.

Naomi Schaefer Riley of the Lives Cut Short Project, which documents child abuse deaths nationwide, said the current emphasis on supporting family preservation “at all costs” fails to protect the most vulnerable children and may contribute to higher deaths from abuse and neglect.

“The tide may be swinging too far in that direction,” Riley said.

Department of Children’s Service data reviewed by Lookout shows that the number of child deaths currently under investigation in 2023 is higher than all other child deaths in Tennessee, which grew by 6 percent in 2023, compared to the 29 percent increase in suspected child abuse deaths.

Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, has a different view.

Reports of an increase in the number of deaths of children already known to a child protection agency often prompt government agencies to be more aggressive in removing children from their homes.

That would be a mistake, Wexler said, noting that reports of child abuse deaths represent only a fraction of the children agencies like DCS routinely encounter.

In Tennessee, for example, DCS conducted more than 66,000 child abuse investigations and received more than 100,000 reports through its helpline in fiscal year 2022-2023, according to the agency’s most recent annual report.

“These (child deaths) cases are needles in a haystack. So what do we do when there’s a spike? Report more kids, make the haystack bigger,” Wexler said, warning against such “knee-jerk” responses that expose more children to the trauma of removal. DCS lacks tools to help struggling families after removing a child, including referrals to substance abuse counseling, parenting classes and connecting families to other state services.

Data reviewed by DCS shows that the number of child deaths currently under investigation by DCS in 2023 exceeds all other child deaths in Tennessee, which grew by 6 percent in 2023, compared to the 29 percent increase in suspected child abuse deaths.

Black children were disproportionately represented, accounting for 39 percent of suspected maltreatment deaths last year. In contrast, African-American children under the age of 18 make up 21 percent of all children in Tennessee.

Boys are also disproportionately represented among suspected deaths from abuse or neglect in 2023.

Zarach said the higher percentage of boys “appears to be an ongoing trend.”

Prematurity is more common in male babies, who, according to some studies, also have a higher risk of sudden death. Boys also have a higher risk of physical abuse and accidental shootings.

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