Tennessee suspends shelter license following staffer arrest
by The Associated Press
Last Updated Jul 1, 2021 at 7:30 pm EDT
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials on Thursday suspended the license of a Chattanooga shelter for immigrant children after one of the employees was arrested following abuse allegations.
The move comes as Tennessee’s top Republican leaders have called for more scrutiny surrounding the shelter. They allege the federal government has not been transparent when pressed about immigrant children moving through the state.
That rhetoric only intensified after Department of Children’s Services Commissioner Jennifer Nichols told lawmakers that in early June during an unannounced inspection of a Chattanooga shelter, a young boy reported he had witnessed “an act that, in our policy, would substantiate and require an investigation” while at the facility.