MARGIE QUIN was sworn in as the Commissioner of the Department of Children’s Services on September 1, 2022. Prior to her role as Commissioner, Quin was the Chief Executive Officer at Ancora^TN (ATN), (previously End Slavery TN), for three years, a nonprofit serving survivors of human trafficking throughout Middle Tennessee.

Commissioner Quin began her efforts to combat human trafficking in the state as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation where she was assigned to the Tennessee State Fusion Center in 2007. As the AMBER Alert Coordinator for the state and the Director of the Missing Children’s Clearinghouse, she became aware that some of Tennessee’s missing youth were being trafficked. Quin has been quoted many times about what she did once she became aware of this critical information, “Once you know, you can never not know again, and you must act.”

In 2010, Quin led a TBI/Vanderbilt team to research and publish the groundbreaking report, “Tennessee Human Sex Trafficking and Its Impact on Children and Youth”. That first-of-its-kind research was returned to the Tennessee General Assembly in 2011. In the ensuing years, she testified and consulted with members of the General Assembly to pass dozens of new laws that protected the vulnerable in our state from the scourge of sex trafficking.

In 2015, Quin was tapped to develop and oversee the creation of the first-ever statewide human trafficking investigative unit at the TBI. The new unit was tasked with delivering mandatory training to law enforcement as well as investigating cases of human trafficking. She conceived and led 12 major undercover sting operations designed to identify the trafficked and arrest the traffickers. The stings were focused on “demand-reduction” and the operations were conducted in consultation with Ancora^TN and the other Tennessee Counter Trafficking Alliance (TCTA) agencies – they all included trauma-informed interventions with community-based partners. Because of this new enforcement approach, by 2020, the TBI reported that prostitution arrests had fallen 65% in the state.

The Commissioner worked effectively with two Tennessee Governors, Bill Haslam, and Bill Lee. During Governor Bill Haslam’s administration, she wrote and delivered the Public Safety Sub-cabinet’s action steps on human trafficking. These steps included public awareness, education, enforcement, and the increase of survivor service delivery. She worked collaboratively with non-profits across the state to develop public/private partnerships to leverage resources to combat trafficking.

In 2021, Governor Bill Lee announced a historic investment in community-based services for survivors. ATN was awarded $3.5 million to build out a survivor restoration campus with two years of transitional housing and intensive trauma-informed care. In 2022, Governor Lee awarded ESTN $1 million to continue the buildout of the campus which will bring healing, housing, and hope to survivors. The campus opened its doors to the first survivor cohort in July 2022.

During her 21 years with the T.B.I. Quin served on numerous Commissions and Task Forces including the Children’s Justice Task Force, The State Child Fatality Review Board, Sex Offender Treatment Board, and others to work collaboratively on state policy impacting The Department.

The Commissioner has an undergraduate degree from Auburn University and a master’s degree in Public Service Management from Cumberland University.