Caring for the Vulnerable: Tennessee's Commitment to Children, Seniors, and Working Families

A community's character is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members. In District 38, we have always believed that we have a responsibility to look out for one another, and this session, the 114th General Assembly put that belief into action.

For our children, we made historic investments. We invested $34.5 million in the Department of Children's Services to reduce caseworker caseloads, ensuring that vulnerable children receive more individual attention. We expanded resources for children with disabilities in state custody. We created the Children's Digital Protection Fund to direct money recovered from tech companies into children's mental health services and suicide prevention. We passed the Tennessee Anti-Grooming Act to give law enforcement the tools to intervene before children are abused.

For seniors, we directed significant new resources toward nursing home providers and dementia care. The Caring for Caregivers Act creates a pilot grant program for families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's, recognizing the enormous burden that caregivers carry and providing some relief for home modifications, equipment, and respite care.

For working families, we invested in the Promising Futures Fund to stabilize the childcare workforce and expand access to affordable childcare. The Smart Steps Plus program creates childcare scholarships for working families who earn too much for existing assistance programs but still cannot afford quality care. This is a real, practical solution for families who are doing everything right but still find themselves squeezed by the rising cost of childcare.

We passed legislation to provide food assistance application forms to inmates preparing to be released from prison, helping to reduce recidivism by ensuring that people have access to basic support as they re-enter society.

We also expanded Safe Haven laws to include ambulance stations, giving parents who are in crisis one more safe option for surrendering an infant without criminal penalty. This law saves lives, and expanding its reach was the right thing to do.

Caring for the vulnerable is not charity. It is community. It is what neighbors do for one another, and it is what government should do for those it serves. I am proud of what we accomplished this session on behalf of the people who needed us most.