February 6, 2013
(Nashville, TN) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced that Department of Children’s Services (DCS) Commissioner Kate O’Day has resigned from her post. In response to this news, Ira Lustbader, associate director of Children’s Rights, issued the following statement:
“Looking forward, there’s an opportunity to get the state’s child welfare system back on track to making major positive changes for kids and complying with court-ordered reforms. We are eager to work with new DCS leadership toward vital improvements for abused and neglected children in Tennessee.”
Filed in 2000 by Children’s Rights and co-counsel on behalf of all children in state custody, the class action known as Brian A. v. Haslam charged Tennessee’s mismanaged child welfare system with violating children’s constitutional rights and causing them irreparable physical and emotional harm. Co-counsel includes a team of Tennessee attorneys including David Raybin of Hollins, Raybin & Weissman and Jacqueline Dixon of Weatherly, McNally & Dixon in Nashville; Richard Fields in Memphis; Robert Louis Hutton of Glankler Brown in Memphis; and Wade Davies of Ritchie, Fels & Dillard in Knoxville.
More information about Children’s Rights’ campaign to reform the child welfare system in Tennessee can be found at the Tennessee Class Action Page