Tennessee’s new youth campus plans include rooms for counseling. For a parent who lives hours away, joining that counseling session presents a different problem.
There is the drive, the fuel bill and possibly a missed shift. Then there is doing it again for the next visit or treatment meeting.
The Department of Children’s Services is planning replacement buildings at Woodland Hills in North Nashville and John S. Wilder in Somerville, in Fayette County. DCS says the projects will improve treatment, education and rehabilitation.
But a building can bring services closer together without bringing a child closer to home. That distinction matters when judging what Tennessee’s investment will accomplish.
What the New Buildings Will Change
DCS’s published plans describe three residential buildings across two existing campuses.
Woodland Hills will have a staff-secure building. Wilder will have both a staff-secure building and an enhanced-security building. The designs provide different levels of supervision and security.
In WKRN’s November 9 report, DCS said it is replacing worn-out buildings. Planned spaces support counseling, special education, medical and dental care, recreation, and vocational training.
The department also described smaller living areas instead of large dormitories.
Those are changes to the setting where young people live and receive services. They should be considered separately from where the campuses are located and how families reach them.
There is another distinction in the plans: replacing buildings does not guarantee unchanged capacity. DCS says the residential designs allow future expansion as capacity needs change.
What a Repeat Trip Can Cost
State Rep. Ronnie Glynn raised the travel problem in WKRN’s reporting.
“How do I get there and see my child?” he asked.
The important word for a household budget is “regularly.” A trip that can be managed once may be difficult to repeat throughout a child’s placement.
Consider this illustration, using assumed figures rather than a measured route or current fuel price:
| Part of the trip | Illustrative calculation |
|---|---|
| Round-trip distance | 300 miles |
| Vehicle fuel economy | 25 miles per gallon |
| Fuel needed | 12 gallons |
| Assumed fuel price | $3 per gallon |
| Fuel cost per visit | $36 |
| Four visits | $144 in fuel and 1,200 miles of driving |
That excludes meals, childcare, vehicle wear and lost wages. It also assumes the family has a vehicle available.
Our look at Tennessee household grocery costs makes a related budgeting point: what a bill leaves you to live on matters as much as the bill itself. For a family planning visits, transportation has to fit alongside expenses that continue at home.
This example does not establish what Tennessee families actually spend. It shows why a visitation policy and an affordable way to use it are separate questions.
Bringing Services Together Has a Tradeoff
DCS told WKRN that some young people need secure settings and that Tennessee already uses smaller, community-based placements when appropriate.
Its argument for gathering services on a campus is operational: multiple smaller locations require duplicated staffing, security and education services.
WKRN also interviewed Gail D. Mumford of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, who helped develop Missouri’s approach to smaller rehabilitation settings. She emphasized the opportunities for family involvement when facilities are closer to home.
Both positions identify a logistical problem. DCS must organize care for the young people in its custody. Families must organize their lives around participating in that care.
Bringing services together may make the state’s operations easier to coordinate. It can still leave a parent coordinating transportation, work schedules and care for other children.
That is the tradeoff the plans deserve to be judged against. Smaller living areas may improve life inside a campus while leaving the journey from home unchanged.
What Families Can Ask for Now
Families do not have to wait for the replacement buildings to ask how they can stay involved.
DCS’s published visitation policy describes an approved visitor list and requires local rules to provide special visiting arrangements outside normal days or hours when hardship conditions exist.
The document displays a March 2016 effective date and links a supplementary directive. Ask the residential case manager for the current written instructions before making a trip.
Use these questions to make that conversation specific:
- Is everyone traveling approved to visit? Confirm identification, clothing requirements, rules for accompanying children and permitted belongings.
- Can the timing accommodate a hardship? Explain the travel or work problem and ask how to request an alternative time.
- Is travel help available for this visit? Ask about assistance, eligibility, approval and whether arrangements must be completed before departure.
- Which meetings can I join remotely? Ask separately about family contact, therapy, treatment-team meetings and school meetings.
- Who confirms the visit before I leave? Get a contact number and ask how cancellations are communicated.
The visitation policy requires the superintendent’s prior written approval for transportation provided by DCS or an employee. That is an approval requirement, not a promise that a ride is available. Ask whether help exists for your circumstances and who will confirm it.
For winter trips, our guide to Tennessee winter weather and regional travel conditions can help with route planning. Families driving around dawn or dusk can also review our Tennessee deer-collision guide. Check the return journey as well as the drive there.
Video Participation Can Help Keep Families Involved
Wilder’s parent packet, revised in May 2024, describes video participation when transportation is difficult. It covers family therapy, Child and Family Team meetings, Individualized Education Program meetings and individual conferences.
The packet presents video contact as an addition to visits.
That gives families something concrete to ask about. A parent who cannot make a particular trip may still be able to participate in a meeting about treatment or education.
Ask which options are currently available, what equipment is needed and who schedules the connection. Wilder’s packet should not be treated as the operating rules for Woodland Hills or either replacement building.
Education offers another route to involvement. DCS’s YDC education guidance says parents may participate in their child’s education program unless a judge has specifically revoked that participation. It directs families to their Family Service Worker or YDC case manager to coordinate meetings and raise concerns.
If a service question remains unresolved, DCS Customer Relations accepts inquiries at 1-800-861-1935 or DCS.Custsrv@tn.gov. The unit reviews service and policy concerns but cannot change or set aside law or policy.
How to Judge Whether Family Access Improves
DCS lists November 2028 for Woodland Hills and March 2029 for Wilder as anticipated substantial completion dates. Those are construction milestones, not confirmed opening or occupancy dates.
The published project page describes the buildings and services. It does not detail the replacement buildings’ visiting schedules or transportation assistance.
As those arrangements take shape, construction progress should be accompanied by information families can use. A useful measure of success would be whether parents can participate consistently.
DCS could help the public assess that by reporting:
- How often families participate in treatment and education meetings, in person or remotely.
- How many transportation-assistance requests are received and how they are resolved.
- How often scheduled visits are canceled by the facility and whether another opportunity is offered.
These are proposed measures, not figures the project page currently provides. They would help distinguish a service being offered from a family being able to use it.
For families navigating the system today, start with one request: current written visit instructions and a specific plan for participating when travel is difficult.
Tennessee can show when a counseling room is finished. The next question is whether the parent who needs to join the session can actually take part.
