KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — An audit by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury revealed new information about the problems that occurred at the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Center and led to a change in leadership at the center.
In total, the 200-page audit report from the Comptroller’s Office said investigators had eight findings in their examination of Tennessee Department of Children’s programs and activities from September 1, 2022, through September 30, 2025.
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The Knox County Juvenile Detention Center was one of seven juvenile detention facilities audited. While four centers had noncompliance issues relating to staffing ratios, the juvenile detention center was the only one that also had issues with medication and incident reporting noncompliance.
Investigators explained that the facility’s only nurse was scheduled to work Monday through Friday during the day shift, and when the nurse was not there, security staff were responsible for administering medications to the youth. Although security staff assigned to that duty completed DCS-required medication administration training, the medication errors investigators noted happened when the nurse was not there, the report explained…