Tennessee · Snapshot open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-17

Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-2-421: Grant of limited tort exposure to non-governmental independent contractors providing foster care continuum services

(a) Notwithstanding a provision of this chapter to the contrary, non-governmental independent contractors that contract with, or enter into an agreement with, the department of children's services for the provision of foster care continuum services to children in the department's custody are granted limited tort exposure under this chapter from civil actions or claims filed by the children and families who are the intended or actual recipients of those services. This grant of limited tort exposure is provided only when the non-governmental independent contractors are providing by contract or agreement foster care continuum services to children in the department's custody.
(b) In performing or providing foster care continuum services, the non-governmental independent contractors are deemed to be the functional equivalent of the department of children's services. The non-governmental independent contractors are performing or providing these foster care continuum services in the stead of the department of children's services and by such are fulfilling a public purpose that is authorized to be performed by the department of children's services. The department's contracting party for the provision of foster care continuum services will not be afforded limits to its tort exposure for gross negligence in the performance of the contract or agreement.
(c) In performing or providing foster care continuum services, the monetary limits of tort exposure for the department of children's services contracting party or party to the agreement are the same as the limits set for the department of children's services in § 9-8-307 ; provided, that a claim against the contractor arising from the contractor's provision of foster care continuum services to children in the department's custody shall be filed with a court of competent jurisdiction and shall not be heard by the Tennessee claims commission.

Where this section sits in the code

TN Code
Title 37
Chapter 2

(b) In performing or providing foster care continuum services, the non-governmental independent contractors are deemed to be the functional equivalent of the department of children's services. The non-governmental independent contractors are performing or providing these foster care continuum services in the stead of the department of children's services and by such are fulfilling a public purpose that is authorized to be performed by the department of children's services. The department's contracting party for the provision of foster care continuum services will not be afforded limits to its tort exposure for gross negligence in the performance of the contract or agreement.

(c) In performing or providing foster care continuum services, the monetary limits of tort exposure for the department of children's services contracting party or party to the agreement are the same as the limits set for the department of children's services in § 9-8-307 ; provided, that a claim against the contractor arising from the contractor's provision of foster care continuum services to children in the department's custody shall be filed with a court of competent jurisdiction and shall not be heard by the Tennessee claims commission.

Collected 2026-09-17T21:51:56Z. Source file · JSON

Compilation CC BY 4.0, Open US Law (Vaquill AI). GroundRules uses only the releases published under CC BY 4.0: from v2026.09 the compilation is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0, and GroundRules does not use those releases. Each affected row names its release in its vintage label. GroundRules parsed and filtered the compilation to retain enacted text. Source · License

Tennessee electronic product files were republished by Public.Resource.Org under a public-domain mark. GroundRules uses enacted text from Release 76 only as a labeled supplement to the newer Open US Law rows. Source

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