Audit identifies flaws in state child care center investigations

An audit by the Tennessee Comptroller found lapses in state investigations of child care centers. (Photo: Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent.) 

A new state audit has identified flaws in the way the Department of Human Services investigates complaints against child care centers in Tennessee, potentially placing children at risk.

The department investigates approximately 6,000 allegations of child abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation made each year against legally and illegally operating childcare providers across the state.

The Tennessee Comptroller found some of these investigations lacked required documentation, including proof inspectors had visited the childcare center, incomplete “action plans” holding child care operators responsible for improvements and misclassified forms.

Some investigations into allegations of misconduct inside childcare centers weren’t initiated or concluded in the legally required timeframe, the audit found. 

One complaint against an illegal child care operator lacked a temporary restraining order to shut it down that was “essential when conditions present an immediate threat to children’s health or safety,” the audit found.

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“Without stronger oversight and accountability measures, the department cannot fully assure the public that it consistently protects children in Tennessee’s childcare system,” the audit said.

Commissioner Clarence Carter acknowledged the ongoing problems with child care center investigations to lawmakers last week. 

Carter pledged to “strengthen our processes to ensure our investigation process is timely and properly documented at DHS.” 

“We are committed to promoting early childhood environments that are safe, healthy and developmentally rich and appropriate,” he told lawmakers sitting on a legislative subcommittee reviewing the audit on Dec. 16. 

The department has also provided more training to staff and updated its child care licensing technology systems, he said. 

The audit did not note any child had been directly harmed as a result of the investigation lapses it identified.

The Department of Human Services oversees approximately 2,000 licensed agencies that serve 200,000 children statewide. It also oversees 354 childcare centers that aren’t required to get a license because they serve fewer than five unrelated children. 

The audit reviewed the department’s operations between  2021 and 2025. Failures to properly investigate child care center complaints were also identified in a prior audit.
DHS 2025 Audit