Tennessee receives ‘D’ grade in 3rd annual Disability Scorecard
The state received three failing grades for access to care, family caregiving support and housing.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - One-third of Tennessee residents are living with a disability, according to the CDC. However, Tennessee fails to ‘grasp the level of urgency to meet the moment,’ according to the annual Disability Scorecard from the Tennessee Disability Coalition (TDC).
The TDC gave the state an overall grade of ‘D’ in its annual report. It graded nine disability priority areas for 2024, including employment, aging and education.
The state received three failing grades for access to care, family caregiving support and housing.
Regarding access to care, Tennessee’s Medicaid program (TennCare) covers only 75% of the actual cost of hospital care, contributing to 60% of Tennessee hospitals operating at a loss with 45% at risk of closure.
As for family caregiving support, Tennessee ranked 45th nationally in the availability of home healthcare workers, with only 23 workers per 1000 residents.
Amid the housing crisis, the report found zero counties in Tennessee are affordable for people with disabilities to purchase a home. That number is down from only five counties in 2023, and 15 in 2022.
The state earned a D grade for education, which became a legislative priority for the TDC in 2025.
“There are 115,000 children in our public schools who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which means they’re in a special education program. That’s 14% of our entire student population,” said Jeff Strand, the Director of Public Policy for TDC.
“There are not enough special education teachers. There are not enough support specialists, like school psychologists, and counselors, that kind of thing. There are not enough paraprofessionals that support the special education classroom,” says Strand.
In the most recent Tennessee Educator Survey released annually by the TN Department of Education, 33% of teachers said they aren‘t getting enough training to work with kids who have disabilities. 43% said they didn’t get enough support from the schools to do their work well.
“For children with more unique disabilities, or higher level of needs, our teachers are not prepared, and they say they’re not prepared,” says Strand.
To read the full scorecard, click here.
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