CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – On July 19, Annastacia Rodriguez was at home when her 13-year-old son Billy asked her to buy him a video game.

When Rodriguez said no, Billy grabbed her by the face and picked up a frying pan. She got away from him and barricaded herself in her bedroom. As she called police, Billy began breaking through her door.

Arriving officers found that he had destroyed her bedroom door with the frying pan.

Billy, whose real name isn’t being used to protect his privacy, has been deaf since birth. Over the years, he began developing behavioral issues, becoming increasingly violent. Rodriguez recalled one time when Billy was riding in a car with his grandfather and suddenly attacked him. Billy was only 7.

The episodes were more easily managed during his early years, but now he is taller, and stronger. She has tried therapy and schools for the deaf. Now, Rodriguez is running out of options.

“He’s 13; he’s about to be an adult, if we make it to then without him hurting somebody or killing somebody,” Rodriguez, 33, told Clarksville Now. But getting help for a child who is both disabled and violent is surprisingly difficult in Tennessee, and the Rodriguez family has gone through a maze of agencies trying to sort it out.

Sent home by judge

On the night of the door destruction, a judge was called on for detainment and placement of Billy. But the judge ruled against detaining Billy and he was sent back home, pending a hearing the next morning.

At court the next morning, Rodriguez was the only one able to communicate effectively with Billy, who doesn’t know American Sign Language, so she was tasked with signing Billy’s rights to him.

“The judge set another court date,” Rodriguez said. “He told my son that he needed to abide by house rules, or he would go somewhere he really didn’t want to be. And that was it.”

Just two days later, the Billy tried to assault his mother again. He was removed from the home and placed in the state’s custody, living in group homes.

In and out of schools for deaf

Since being in the state’s custody, Billy has had a new assault charge filed against him and has been suspended from a Nashville school twice before being expelled.

In the past, he has been kicked out of multiple public schools and out of schools for the deaf in Alabama and Tennessee. In one instance, Billy stabbed teacher in the hand with a pencil, and he has attacked other students.

Clarksville Now has reached out to Tennessee School for the Deaf and the American School for the Deaf for comment.

Because he’s been bouncing from schools, and having extended periods of time between those schools, Billy is falling behind academically.

He was on his second school in Nashville when he was brought back into his parents’ custody and re-enrolled with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System.

What can DCS do?

While the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services can’t comment on specific cases, they did confirm that DCS is involved with Billy.

“DCS works to create individualized plans to assist families whose children require specialized supports,” said Alex Dennis, a DCS spokesperson. “School systems are often involved in this step.”

She said the options for families with needs like these in Tennessee are limited.

“Generally speaking, when it comes to highly specialized needs, there are only a handful of Schools for the Deaf located in the Southeast and even fewer also address behavioral needs.”

Most specialized schools for the deaf in the U.S. are in Northeastern states and require tuition or tuition reimbursement from the child’s original school system or family. Right now, the main options remaining on the table for Rodriguez’ son are in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

DCS must piece together services to support these children, Dennis said, as there is not a single facility available that addresses all three needs: hearing impairment, ASL teaching and behavioral needs.

What can school system do?

Much of the responsibility for getting help for Billy will have to come from CMCSS.

While CMCSS can’t comment on specific cases, spokesman Anthony Johnson explained the process.

“Our Special Populations Department has facilitated alternate placements for students in which CMCSS has paid tuition and/or provided transportation,” said CMCSS spokesman Anthony Johnson. “Legally, a student’s IEP team, for which parents are members of the team, must meet to consider a change of placement.”

“If a change of placement is determined by the IEP team to better serve the student if the needs cannot be met by the LEA, the IEP team, in collaboration with the Special Populations Department, would research and vet programs that would best serve the needs of the student,” Johnson said.

Rodriguez said that on Oct. 17, they had another IEP meeting with CMCSS where the school stated, again, that they did not have the resources for him but are still looking.

Now, the judge is working with DCS to try to get Billy the help he needs out of the state.

“He needs help,” Rodriguez said, “and Tennessee has made it clear they can’t help him.”

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