Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-176

This is the official text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-176, part of Tennessee’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of Tennessee, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Providing care, training or treatment in least drastic alternative way

Official statutory text

IF (1) a juvenile court commits a child to the temporary legal custody of the department under § 37-1-175 , THEN (2) the department shall provide the necessary care, training, or treatment for the child in the least drastic alternative way that is available and suitable to meet the child's needs, AND (3) community mental health centers and community programs that receive grants or contracts from the department to provide such services to children shall, at the direction of the department, provide the community-based services necessary to meet the child's needs for treatment in the least drastic alternative to hospitalization, AND IF AND ONLY IF (4) (A) placing the child in inpatient care in a hospital or treatment resource is the least drastic alternative way that is available to the department and is suitable to meet the child's needs, THEN (B) the department shall apply for the child's admission to a hospital or treatment resource under title 33, chapter 6, part 2 or 4 or shall initiate proceedings under title 33, chapter 6, part 5. Acts 2000, ch. 947, § 7.
IF
(1) a juvenile court commits a child to the temporary legal custody of the department under § 37-1-175 , THEN
THEN
(2) the department shall provide the necessary care, training, or treatment for the child in the least drastic alternative way that is available and suitable to meet the child's needs, AND
(3) community mental health centers and community programs that receive grants or contracts from the department to provide such services to children shall, at the direction of the department, provide the community-based services necessary to meet the child's needs for treatment in the least drastic alternative to hospitalization, AND IF AND ONLY IF
IF AND ONLY IF
(4) (A) placing the child in inpatient care in a hospital or treatment resource is the least drastic alternative way that is available to the department and is suitable to meet the child's needs, THEN (B) the department shall apply for the child's admission to a hospital or treatment resource under title 33, chapter 6, part 2 or 4 or shall initiate proceedings under title 33, chapter 6, part 5.
(A) placing the child in inpatient care in a hospital or treatment resource is the least drastic alternative way that is available to the department and is suitable to meet the child's needs, THEN
THEN
(B) the department shall apply for the child's admission to a hospital or treatment resource under title 33, chapter 6, part 2 or 4 or shall initiate proceedings under title 33, chapter 6, part 5.
Acts 2000, ch. 947, § 7.

Status: in_force

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.