Image Credit: Google Earth & Richard L. Bean / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
An 85-year-old superintendent of an abusive East Tennessee juvenile detention center is finally set to retire following the firing of two employees who spoke out about problems at the center.
At the end of May, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs called out Superintendent Richard Bean for whom the facility is named, the center’s leader since 1972.
One of the two recently fired employees was the Richard L. Bean’s Juvenile Service Center’s only nurse. Without qualified medical personnel, the center does not meet state law requirements.
The nurse who was fired alerted Jacobs to the fact that medication at the center was going missing, sometimes being given to the wrong children, and not being reported correctly. Medical protocols and documentation is lacking, with no electronic system in place to track health issues or medication.
Jacobs has called on Governor Bill Lee to intervene at the state level, action that could take months. In the meantime, Jacobs has recommended that the Knox County Commission place the facility under the control of the county sheriff’s office.
An emergency ordinance that is expected to pass is to go before the County Commission to dissolve the center’s board. With the board’s dissolution, the center will be under jurisdiction of the mayor’s office, the county, and commission, with the sheriff running the facility on a daily basis until the state takes over.
Jacobs and Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Irwin have since met with Bean and demanded that the employees be reinstated immediately, something Bean agreed to do. With the center breaking state law without a nurse on staff, any lawsuit against the facility would be at county expense.
With Bean now set to retire August 1st, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) has agreed to step up to provide more oversight while the transition in leadership at the center takes place.
Bean was the focus of a 2023 ProPublica exposé in which he fondly reminisced about the past when beating children in state custody was legal.
As times changed, Bean switched over to excessive isolation practices to keep the youth in his care in line.
Meant to be used as a last resort in order to prevent children from hurting themselves, others, or property, or from escaping, Bean’s facility has used “seclusion” unlawfully for years, and yet DCS has continued to approve the center’s license to operate.
Youth have reported being stripped down to their underwear before being locked up, and also that staff have used solitary confinement on individuals they disliked.
Bean documented isolation incidents where children were kept in cells far longer than allowed by law. He didn’t worry about breaking the law, believing that he could talk his way out of any trouble that ensued.
Last year, a class action suit was filed by Disability Rights of Tennessee that accused several juvenile detention facilities including Bean’s of abusing the law regarding seclusion practices.
According to the lawsuit, staff at the Richard L. Bean center put youth into solitary confinement for nearly 24 hours a day, well past the 6 hour limit per day, sometimes for multiple days at a time, and seclusion was used as punishment over trivial matters.
While confined, youth were not given an education, not fed full meals, and often not given prescription medicine.
Additional Sources:
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
