§ 37-2-411 — Annual report on foster care - Confidentiality of report - Injunction and action for damages

(a) Each year the department of children's services shall prepare and issue a report on foster care in Tennessee. The report shall include an analysis, evaluation or estimate, as appropriate, of the following, on a statewide basis: (1) The number of children in foster care; (2) The amount of funds expended by federal, state and local governments for maintenance payments to foster parents, group homes and institutes; (3) The amount of funds expended by federal, state and local governments on services to foster children and their natural parents or guardians; (4) The types of services being offered to parents and their children in order to keep the family together; (5) The number of foster children eligible for adoption, the number of such children adopted, and the number of foster children determined not to be adoptable and the reasons therefor; (6) The number of foster children placed in a planned permanent living arrangement or guardianship; (7) The size of caseloads of probation officers and social workers, the effect such caseloads have on the services offered to parents or their children, and the effectiveness of such services; (8) The movement of foster children within the program from placement to placement; (9) The foster care-related qualifications, education, and in-service training of social workers and probation officers who handle such cases; (10) Any other matters relating to foster children that the department deems appropriate to be included in the report. The report shall be published as part of the department's annual report required by § 37-5-105(4) ; and (11) The number of documented objections to foster care placements made pursuant to § 37-2-403(g) . (b) All personal information and records obtained by the department pursuant to this section shall be confidential and may not be disclosed in this report in a way that could identify any individual, adult or child, in foster care or receiving assistance from the department or other child care agency. (c) Any person may bring an action against an individual who has willingly and knowingly released confidential information or records concerning such person in violation of this section, for the greater of the following amounts: (1) Five hundred dollars ($500); or (2) Three (3) times the amount of actual damages, if any, sustained by the plaintiff. (d) Any person may bring an action to enjoin the release of confidential information or records in violation of this part, and may in the same action seek damages as provided in this section. It is not a prerequisite to an action under this section that the plaintiff suffer or be threatened with actual damages.

Legislative History

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 414, s 2, eff. 5/12/2021. Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 178, Secs.s 2, s 3 eff. 4/17/2015. Acts 1979, ch. 272, § 5; T.C.A., § 37-1511; Acts 1996, ch. 1079, § 73; 2000, ch. 981, § 51; 2002, ch. 629, § 6.