Politics
Blackburn Taps Former DCS Commissioner to Lead Review of Troubled Child Welfare Agency
Governor-elect Marsha Blackburn has formed a four-member advisory committee, led by former DCS commissioner Jim Henry, to review Tennessee's Department of Children's Services after a scathing state audit and reports of children sleeping in state offices.
NASHVILLE â Governor-elect Marsha Blackburn announced Tuesday a four-member advisory committee to review the Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS), an agency under intense scrutiny following a 2025 state audit that exposed serious failures in child protection.
The committee will be led by Jim Henry, a former state lawmaker who served as DCS commissioner from 2013 to 2015. The other members are Cameron Smith, Maggie McNally Kimball and Cleo Griffin. According to Blackburn's announcement, the group will examine the department's structure, operations and leadership, identify challenges and recommend improvements before she takes office.
The move comes after a 2025 state audit found significant problems within DCS, including delays in investigating reports of child abuse and neglect, poor conditions in transitional homes and staffing shortages at juvenile detention centers. Separate investigative reporting has also documented how hundreds of foster children have been forced to spend nights sleeping in DCS office buildings because the state could not find appropriate placements.
Blackburn said the committee's work is essential to her administration's planning. "The Department of Children's Services plays an important role in protecting some of Tennessee's most vulnerable children, and we have a responsibility to ensure the department is operating as effectively as possible," she said in a statement.
Henry, who will lead the review, said the panel would focus on facts and practical solutions. "Our goal will be to gather meaningful insights, review the facts, and provide thoughtful recommendations to Governor-elect Blackburn as she considers the future of DCS," he said.
The announcement signals that child welfare will be an early priority for Blackburn, who is preparing to take office. The committee's findings could shape her administration's approach to an agency that has faced years of criticism over its handling of vulnerable children, from investigation delays to inadequate housing for foster youth.
Advocates for children and families have long called for systemic reforms at DCS, and the audit's findings added urgency to those demands. The new committee's recommendations will be closely watched by lawmakers, child welfare experts and the families who depend on the department's services.