Return Medically Fragile 6-Year-Old Willow to Her Approved Kinship Care in Arkansas – End Unnecessary Delays

Urgent: Bring Willow Marie Bash Home to Her Maternal Grandmother in Arkansas

My name is D. Davis, a retired Registered Nurse (with current license) living in Arkansas. I am advocating to bring my granddaughter, Willow B. (born 2019), home to the loving, medically equipped kinship care she needs and deserves.

Willow is a medically fragile child who lives with cerebral palsy, Marfan syndrome, congenital heart conditions, blindness, and other medical challenges. She requires consistent physical therapy, regular cardiology monitoring, adaptive equipment, and stable, specialized family-based care to support her health, prevent complications, and promote her development.

Willow has been in Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) foster care for over a year. She was placed with non-relative foster providers through contracted agencies in Rutherford County. She entered care due to her mother’s serious medical complications—not because of any concerns with me as her grandmother.

As Willow’s maternal grandmother, I have:

•  Successfully completed the full Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) process

•  Passed all required background checks (criminal, abuse/neglect registry, and sex offender)

•  Completed the Arkansas/Tennessee ICPC Border Agreement home assessment, including physical walk-through and caregiver capacity review

•  Received formal approval from Arkansas as a safe, appropriate, and suitable kinship placement for Willow

Despite this approval, Tennessee DCS has continued to delay her return home. Additional post-approval requirements—such as a psychological examination to be completed in Tennessee—appear to go beyond the standards outlined in the ICPC and the 2025 AR/TN Border Agreement. These delays are keeping Willow separated from her family and the specialized care she needs in her home state.

Federal and state laws strongly favor kinship placements, especially for children with disabilities. This priority is supported by the Family First Prevention Services Act, the ICPC, and the Americans with Disabilities Act’s integration mandate. Prolonged placement in non-kinship foster care is not in Willow’s best interests and can impact her health and emotional well-being.

We respectfully ask Tennessee DCS Commissioner Margie Quin, the DCS ICPC Administrator, and relevant supervisors to:

1.  Provide written clarification on the legal and policy basis for any additional requirements after full ICPC and Border Agreement approval.

2.  Expedite Willow’s placement with her approved kinship caregiver in Arkansas without further delay.

3.  Prioritize kinship care and the best interests of medically fragile children in DCS custody.

Willow deserves stability, love, and specialized care from family. Every day in foster care away from approved relatives matters for her health and development.

Please sign this petition and share it with others. Your support will help bring Willow home where she belongs and reinforce that qualified kinship caregivers who complete all required steps should not face unnecessary barriers.

Together, we can help ensure that children like Willow are given priority for safe, loving family placements across state lines.

Thank you,

D. Davis

Retired Registered Nurse & Loving Grandmother

 

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