Though Tennessee says the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center is improving, new reporting suggests that though the facility claims its use of seclusion is voluntary, the kids don’t see it that way.
Following reporting from WPLN and ProPublica, the state lawmakers said there is a “culture of lawlessness” inside Knoxville’s Richard L. Bean Center and called for an audit throughout the system.
The Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center has been punishing kids with seclusion more than any other facility in Tennessee. And as the laws and rules on how to treat kids changed, the facility failed to keep up.