(a) If the child is found to be an unruly child, the court may make such disposition as authorized by this section or § 37-1-131(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(7), or (b) that is best suited to such child’s treatment. However, no child found to be an unruly child may be placed on probation under the supervision of the department, unless such child is found to also be a delinquent child or is found to have committed a violation of a valid court order as provided for in the Appendix to the Tennessee Rules of Juvenile Procedure. No county government shall be required to increase local funding to implement this provision. The court has the additional dispositional alternative of ordering the department to provide non-custodial services to a child found to be unruly.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 37-1-132

  • Adult: means any person eighteen (18) years of age or older. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Child: means :
    (A) A person under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Commissioner: means commissioner of children's services. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Court order: means any order or decree of a judge, magistrate or court of competent jurisdiction. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Custodian: means a person, other than a parent or legal guardian, who stands in loco parentis to the child or a person to whom temporary legal custody of the child has been given by order of a court. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Custody: means the control of actual physical care of the child and includes the right and responsibility to provide for the physical, mental, moral and emotional well-being of the child. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Delinquent act: means an act designated a crime under the law, including local ordinances of this state, or of another state if the act occurred in that state, or under federal law, and the crime is not a status offense under subdivision (b)(32)(C) and the crime is not a traffic offense as defined in the traffic code of the state other than failing to stop when involved in an accident pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Delinquent child: means a child who has committed a delinquent act and is in need of treatment or rehabilitation. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Department: means the department of children's services. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Detention: means temporary confinement in a secure or closed type of facility that is under the direction or supervision of the court or a facility that is designated by the court or other authority as a place of confinement for juveniles. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Evidence-based: means policies, procedures, programs, and practices demonstrated by scientific research to reliably produce reductions in recidivism or has been rated as effective by a standardized program evaluation tool. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Probation: means casework service as directed by the court and pursuant to this part as a measure for the protection, guidance, and well-being of the child and child's family. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Shelter care: means temporary care of a child in physically unrestricted facilities. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Unruly child: means a child in need of treatment and rehabilitation who:
    (A) Habitually and without justification is truant from school while subject to compulsory school attendance under §. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Validated risk and needs assessment: means a determination of a child's risk to reoffend and the needs that, when addressed, reduce the child's risk to reoffend through the use of an actuarial assessment tool that assesses the dynamic and static factors that predict delinquent behavior. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b)

(1) An unruly child is eligible for commitment to the department only if:

(A) The child has previously been adjudicated for two (2) or more offenses arising from separate incidents that would constitute an unruly offense, or a felony or misdemeanor if committed by an adult, including adjudications in other jurisdictions that, if committed in this jurisdiction, would constitute a felony or misdemeanor; or
(B)

(i) The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the child is in imminent risk of danger to the child’s health or safety and needs specific treatment or services that are available only if the child is placed in the custody of the department;
(ii) A child placed in the custody of the department under this subdivision (b)(1)(B) shall remain in custody so long as necessary to complete the treatment or services, which shall be evidence-based and provided by a qualified provider, but shall remain in custody no longer than six (6) months; provided, that the court may order that the child remain in custody for up to an additional six (6) month period if the court finds after a hearing or stipulation that:

(a) The child needs treatment or services that are available only if the child is in custody; and
(b) The treatment or services the child needs are evidence-based and will be provided by a qualified provider.
(2) If the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child and the public that any unruly child be removed from the home of a parent, guardian, or other legal custodian, the placement of the child shall be with the person, agency, or facility that presents the least drastic or restrictive alternative.
(3) Prior to committing an unruly child to the custody of the department of children’s services, the court shall refer such child to the department’s juvenile-family crisis intervention program under § 37-1-168. The court may commit the child to the department after such juvenile-family crisis intervention program certifies to the court that there is no other less drastic measure than court intervention. Nothing in this subsection (b) shall preclude placing a child in protective service custody.
(4) A disposition under this section shall, in no event, result in the child’s detention in shelter care, as defined in § 37-1-116, or other temporary placement, without provision of necessary services consistent with the child’s assessments or evaluations, in excess of thirty (30) days after entry of the court’s order.
(5) Subject to subdivision (b)(6), an unruly child committed to the custody of the department under subdivision (b)(1)(A) for an indefinite time shall be discharged or placed on home placement supervision after a maximum of six (6) months, excluding any amount of time that a child is absent from placement for whatever reason, unless:

(A) The treatment and rehabilitation of the child require that the child remain in custody beyond six (6) months to complete an evidence-based program in a custodial setting addressing a treatment need identified by the previously administered validated risk and needs assessment;
(B) The child is alleged to have committed a new delinquent act; or
(C) The child is alleged to be an escapee from a secure juvenile facility or institution.
(6) The commissioner shall prescribe procedures whereby the child’s treatment, rehabilitation, and progress shall be reviewed monthly and a recommendation for or against home placement or discharge shall be made to the commissioner or the commissioner’s designee at least quarterly.
(7)

(A) When the department determines that a child who has been committed to the department under this section is ready to return home, the department shall notify the court in writing of its intention to place the child at home on a trial home visit. If the court objects to the trial home visit, it must notify the department of its objection in writing or set a hearing within fifteen (15) days of the date of the notice with such hearing being held at the earliest possible date. If a hearing is not set nor a written objection received within fifteen (15) days of the date of the notice, the department may place the child on a trial home visit. The notice shall include the provision that the department’s legal custody of the child shall terminate in thirty (30) days.
(B) If during the thirty-day period the department determines that the trial home visit is not in the child’s best interest and removes the child on an emergency basis or seeks to remove the child on a non-emergency basis, the department shall file a motion for review by the court of the trial home visit and shall provide notice to the parent, parents, guardian, or other custodian. The court shall hold a hearing on such motion within three (3) days of an emergency removal and shall set a hearing within fifteen (15) days to be held at the earliest possible date if the motion is for the court’s permission to make a non-emergency removal.
(C) During the thirty-day trial home visit, the court may periodically review the child’s status and may make any orders that the best interest of the child may require.
(c)

(1) A child ordered to probation under subsection (a) may be placed on probation for a maximum period of six (6) months, subject to this subdivision (c)(1). Before expiration of the first six-month period or any extension period thereafter, and after notice and a hearing, the court may extend probation for additional periods not to exceed six (6) months each, but only if the court finds and issues a written order that:

(A) States that it is in the best interest of the child that a condition or conditions of probation remain in effect; and
(B) Specifies the condition or conditions that shall remain in effect and why that continued effectiveness is in the best interest of the child.
(2) If the requirements of subdivision (c)(1) have been met, probation may continue only so long as it is in the best interest of the child that the condition or conditions of probation remain in effect.
(3) If the supervising authority finds the child has violated the conditions or limitations of probation, the supervising authority may file a petition alleging a violation of the conditions or limitations of probation with the court; provided, that the court, in its discretion, may direct the supervising authority that, in some or all circumstances, such a petition should be filed only if the supervising authority makes and documents attempts to address the noncompliant behavior and determines and documents the reasons for which court intervention is needed to address the noncompliance.
(4) If the court finds that no violation has occurred, the child shall be allowed to resume the former conditions of probation or probation may be terminated.
(5) If in a subsequent proceeding, the court finds the child has violated any of the conditions or limitations of probation, the court may modify conditions consistent with the needs of the child, including ordering a transfer or grant pursuant to § 37-1-131(a)(1). The court shall not order a child placed in the custody of the department for a violation of the conditions or limitations of probation unless:

(A) The child is separately adjudicated dependent or neglected and placed pursuant to § 37-1-130;
(B) The child is separately adjudicated delinquent and placed pursuant to § 37-1-131 for an eligible delinquent offense arising out of a subsequent criminal episode other than the offense for which the child has been placed on probation; or
(C)

(i) The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the child is in imminent risk of danger to the child’s health or safety and needs specific treatment or services that are available only if the child is placed in the custody of the department;
(ii) A child placed in the custody of the department under this subdivision (c)(5)(C) shall remain in custody so long as necessary to complete the treatment or services, which shall be evidence-based and provided by a qualified provider, but shall remain in custody no longer than six (6) months; provided, that the court may order that the child remain in custody for up to an additional six (6) month period if the court finds after a hearing or stipulation that:

(a) The child needs treatment or services that are available only if the child is in custody; and
(b) The treatment or services the child needs are evidence-based and will be provided by a qualified provider.
(d) If a child is adjudicated unruly in whole or in part for habitual and unlawful absence pursuant to § 49-6-3007, it is the intent of the general assembly that any disposition of the court be oriented toward family services and those interventions that address educational barriers and the root causes of truancy.
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