No family should be torn apart simply because they are poor. Parents struggling to afford housing, food, or medical care are unfairly labeled as neglectful, disproportionately harming low-income and Black families.

The Problem:

• Over 60% of child welfare cases involve poverty-related concerns—not abuse. (Children’s Bureau, 2021)
• Black children make up 37% of Tennessee’s foster care placements, despite being only 17% of the state’s population. (TN DCS, 2023)
• Family separation causes lasting harm to children’s mental and emotional well-being. (Harvard Center on the Developing Child, 2019)

Tennessee law fails to differentiate between poverty and neglect, leading to unnecessary child removals and an overburdened child welfare system. We must change this.

The Solution: The Poverty is NOT Neglect Bill (HB0347/SB0560)

This legislation will update Tennessee’s definition of child neglect to ensure that conditions of poverty alone—such as lack of housing, food, or medical care—do not justify child removal unless there is clear evidence of harm or abuse.

This bill will:

• Keep families together and prevent unnecessary separations.
• Clarify the law to distinguish poverty from neglect.
• Ensure child welfare resources are used to address real cases of abuse and harm.
• Promote racial and economic justice in Tennessee’s child welfare system.

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