Children's Services, Dept. of

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide information on the consequences if the Department of Children's Services fails to meet the deadline.

Child Advocacy Center Reimbursement Act

This bill sets a deadline for Tennessee's Department of Children's Services to pay back money owed to child advocacy centers within 30 days and imposes late fees if the payment is not made on time.

What This Bill Does

• Sets a rule that the Department of Children's Services must pay back money owed to child advocacy centers within 30 days after receiving their request for reimbursement.
• Adds a penalty: if payment is not made on time, an extra fee equal to 10% of the original amount must be paid as a late charge.
• Requires the Department of Children's Services to submit annual reports about the timeliness of reimbursements and any incurred late fees.

Who It Names or Affects

• Child advocacy centers in Tennessee that receive state funding.
• The Department of Children's Services

Terms To Know

child advocacy center

A place or organization that helps children who have been hurt or are at risk, by providing support and services to them and their families.

reimbursement payment

Money given back to a child advocacy center after they spend it on something the state agreed to pay for.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the Department of Children's Services cannot meet the deadline.
• It is unclear how existing centers will be affected by these new rules.

Official Summary Text

Present law prohibits state funds appropriated specificall
y for child advocacy centers from being allocated or paid to any such center unless the center clearly demonstrates certain criteria. For those meeting such criteria, the department of children's services, or any other department administering state fund
s
specially appropriated for child advocacy centers (together "department"), must continue to allocate or pay such funds to existing child advocacy centers with active applications on file with the department,

REIMBURSEMENT PAYMENT SCHEDULE

This bill req
uires the department to ensure that a reimbursement payment owed to a child advocacy center is paid within 30 days of the date a request for reimbursement from the child advocacy center is received. For any reimbursement that is not completed within such

thirty-day period, the department must pay to the child advocacy center an additional amount equal to 10% of the total reimbursement amount owed as a late payment fee, with such the ten-percent payment being paid from the applicable department's budget wi
t
hout additional appropriation.

ANNUAL REPORT

This bill provides that, on or before January 15, 2026, and no later than January 15 of each year thereafter, the department must submit to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives a report o
n the timeliness of reimbursements to child advocacy centers in this state during the previous calendar year. The report must include, at a minimum, data on the amount of reimbursements to child advocacy centers that failed to meet the thirty-day deadlin
e
, expressed as both a raw number and a percentage of total reimbursements, and the amount of late payment fees incurred.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 46
By McCalmon

SENATE BILL 1071
By Johnson

SB1071
000476
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 9 and
Title 37, relative to child advocacy centers.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 9-4-213, is amended by adding the
following new subdivisions:
(e) The department of children's services, or another department administering
state funds specially appropriated for child advocacy centers, shall:
(1) Ensure that a reimbursement payment owed to a child advocacy
center is paid within thirty (30) days of the date a request for reimbursement from
the child advocacy center; and
(2) For any reimbursement that is not completed within the thirty (30)
days required by subdivision (e)(1), pay to the child advocacy center an
additional amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the total reimbursement amount
owed as a late payment fee. The ten-percent payment must be paid from the
applicable department's budget without additional appropriation.
(f) On or before January 15, 2026, and no later than January 15 of each year
thereafter, the department of children's services shall submit to the clerk of the senate
and the clerk of the house of representatives a report on the timeliness of
reimbursements to child advocacy centers in this state during the previous calendar
year. The report must include, at a minimum, data on the amount of reimbursements to
child advocacy centers that failed to meet the thirty-day deadline required by subdivision

- 2 - 000476

(e)(1), expressed as both a raw number and a percentage of total reimbursements, and
the amount of late payment fees incurred pursuant to subdivision (e)(2).
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.