Foster parents and advocates press Davidson County for public forum, allege social services problems

Several residents and foster parents urged Davidson County commissioners on Jan. 27 to convene a public forum on child-welfare services and to investigate specific allegations of staff misconduct and missing funds.

During the meeting’s public-address segment, Sona Myers, a former foster parent, described problems she said she and others experienced while working with the county’s Department of Social Services: “Poor communication with social workers, backstabbing, talking about other social workers, coming from social workers to foster parents or guardians,” Myers said. She also alleged the licensing and placement department failed to coordinate and that social workers sometimes paid for children’s meals out of pocket because program funds were insufficient.

Sarah Lee, who identified herself as a Family Integrity Advocate, said she has warned the county for years that lawsuits and systemic problems would follow without meaningful changes. Lee called for “a public forum regarding child welfare,” asking that social workers, guardians ad litem, foster parents, biological relatives and the DSS director be in the room to discuss both longstanding lawsuits and remedies.

Sona Myers and other speakers said they have been told that roughly $18,544 in death-benefit funds meant for children in foster care could not be accounted for from their case files; Myers asked commissioners to review that specific finding and report back. She said she had raised the matter via e-mail and expected follow-up from county staff.

Other public commenters described alleged breaches of confidentiality by social workers and claimed internal complaints—phrases such as “burn book” were used during testimony—to indicate morale and professional-conduct problems inside DSS. Commenters asked commissioners to use their convening authority to bring stakeholders together for an inclusive review and for the county to take corrective action where needed.

Commissioners responded by noting the limits of their authority: the county board can provide resources and convene stakeholders, but it does not directly manage school or state-level policy. Commissioner remarks encouraged a formal meeting with broader representation; Sarah Lee offered to support outreach and boots-on-the-ground advocacy. The board did not make formal findings or start an investigation during the meeting, but staff were asked to follow up and track the requests.

Ending: Commissioners acknowledged the concerns and were asked to consider a publicly convened forum and formal follow-up; several speakers offered to help organize such a session.

Provenance: topic introduced by Sona Myers in public address at approx. 00:50:10 of the transcript and continued through subsequent public-comment speakers on child welfare.