Tennessee Caregiver Affidavit: What Tennessee Actually Uses Instead

If you are searching for a "Tennessee caregiver affidavit" to enroll a child in school, you are looking for the right thing under the wrong name. Tennessee does not use a standalone caregiver authorization affidavit the way California, Arizona, and several other states do.

What Tennessee has instead is the Power of Attorney for Care of a Minor Child under T.C.A. § 34-6-301 — and it actually does more.

Why the Terminology Confusion Exists

Many states provide a one-page caregiver affidavit that a non-parent can sign on their own authority, without the parent's involvement, to enroll a child in school and consent to medical care. California's Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit is the most well-known example.

National websites, forum advice, and even some legal templates use "caregiver affidavit" as a generic term for any document that lets a relative enroll a child without custody. When you search for "Tennessee caregiver affidavit," those national results come up — but they do not reflect Tennessee law.

What Tennessee Provides Instead

Tennessee's primary instrument for non-parent caregiving authority is the Power of Attorney for Care of a Minor Child (T.C.A. § 34-6-301 through § 34-6-310). The key differences from a typical caregiver affidavit:

The parent must sign. Unlike a caregiver affidavit where only the caregiver signs, the Tennessee POA requires the parent's signature. The parent must also identify a statutory hardship — serious illness or incarceration, a physical or mental condition that prevents adequate care, loss or uninhabitability of the child's home resulting from a natural disaster, needed treatment, or another specific hardship that prevents daily care.

It covers more than school and medical. The POA delegates authority for school enrollment, medical care, dental care, mental health treatment, housing, food and travel decisions. A typical caregiver affidavit is narrower.

It has no expiration date. The POA remains valid until the child turns 18, a parent revokes it, or a court issues a custody order. Many state caregiver affidavits expire after one year.

Execution requires witnessing. The form must be notarized or signed before two concurrent non-relative witnesses. A typical caregiver affidavit often requires only the caregiver's signature.

The Tennessee Healthcare Affidavit

Tennessee does have an affidavit — the in loco parentis healthcare authorization under T.C.A. § 34-6-402 — but it is narrower. An adult relative standing in loco parentis can sign it at a medical facility to authorize health care when the parent or POA holder is temporarily unavailable. It covers medical, dental and mental health care only (not school enrollment), lasts only 60 days (renewable once), and follows a priority order (noncustodial parent first, then grandparent, then adult sibling, then stepparent, then other adult relatives).

This affidavit is a temporary medical consent option, not a substitute for the POA.

District-Level Residency Affidavits

Some Tennessee school districts — particularly rural districts — require caregivers to complete a separate Affidavit of Caregiver Residence in addition to the state POA. This is a district-level form confirming that the child lives with you full-time within the district's boundaries. It is not the same as a state caregiver authorization affidavit.

What to Do Next

If a parent with authority can sign, execute the T.C.A. § 34-6-301 Power of Attorney using the free DCS Form CS-0683 or the Tennessee Department of Education template. If no parent or legal guardian with authority can execute it and no T.C.A. § 34-6-303 exception applies, discuss a court filing with Help4TN at 1-844-435-7472. A non-signing parent with legal custody may be handled through the statute's certified-mail notice process.

The Tennessee School and Medical Consent Guide explains both instruments in detail, with field-by-field execution instructions and district-specific enrollment checklists.

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