H 4579 Session 110 (1993-1994)
H 4579 General Bill, By C.Y. Waites, J.G. McAbee, J.S. Shissias and
S.S. Wofford
A Bill to amend Subarticle 4, Article 13, Chapter 7, Title 20, Code of Laws of
South Carolina, 1976, as amended, relating to Foster Care Review Boards, so as
to revise board procedures and standards for review, to eliminate the board
supporting the Division of Review of the Foster Care of Children in the Office
of the Governor, to change the procedures for selection of local board
members, and to limit board member reimbursement.
01/20/94 House Introduced and read first time HJ-3
01/20/94 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-3
04/12/94 House Committee report: Majority favorable with amend.,
minority unfavorable Medical, Military, Public
and Municipal Affairs HJ-6
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
COMMITTEE REPORT
April 12, 1994
H. 4579
Introduced by REPS. Waites, McAbee, Wofford and
Shissias
S. Printed 4/12/94--H.
Read the first time January 20, 1994.
THE COMMITTEE ON MEDICAL,
MILITARY, PUBLIC AND MUNICIPAL
AFFAIRS
To whom was referred a Bill (H. 4579), to amend Subarticle 4, Article
13, Chapter 7, Title 20, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, as
amended, relating to Foster Care Review Boards, etc., respectfully
REPORT:
That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and
recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill as and if amended, by deleting Section 20-7-2374(A)
and inserting:
/(A) There are created sixteen local boards for review of cases
of children in foster care for the Division of Review of the Foster Care
of Children in the Office of the Governor, one in each judicial circuit,
composed of five members appointed by the Governor upon
recommendation of the county legislative delegations which comprise
the judicial circuit. Members shall serve a four-year term and until their
successors are appointed and qualify. When a term expires or a vacancy
occurs on a local board, the division shall notify the appropriate county
legislative delegations. The county legislative delegations have ninety
days from the date of notification to recommend to the Governor a
person to fill the vacancy. If no recommendation is received within the
ninety day period, the Governor shall appoint a person to fill the
vacancy. In making appointments to local boards, race, gender, and
other demographic factors should be considered to assure
nondiscrimination, inclusion, and representation to the greatest extent
possible of all segments of the population of this State; however,
consideration of these factors in no way creates a cause of action or basis
for a grievance for a person appointed or for a person who fails to be
appointed. The Governor in making the appointments provided for by
this section shall endeavor to appoint individuals who have
demonstrated exemplary skills in either the public or private sector. A
local board member must be a resident of the judicial circuit which the
member represents, except where a current or former member is
substituting for an absent member. Each local board shall elect a
chairman from among its members./
Amend further by deleting Section 20-7-2377 and inserting:
/Section 20-7-2377. A local review board may participate in a
judicial review involving a child in foster care. Participation is limited
to examination of parties and witnesses and introduction of documentary
evidence. Notice of intent to participate must be sent by the division to
all parties and the court at least three days before the judicial review
hearing./
Amend further, Section 20-7-2388, by deleting /members/ on page 6,
line 25 and inserting /members persons/ so when
amended Section 20-7-2388 reads:
/Section 20-7-2388. Local boards shall conduct meetings in the
judicial circuit which they represent. A quorum is three
members. Each board must be provided sufficient staff to perform
its functions as set forth in this subarticle with funds provided in the
annual state general appropriations act. Members of the local boards
and former members persons substituting for an
absent member may not receive compensation for their services but must
be allowed mileage, per diem, and subsistence as provided by law
for state boards, committees, and commissions for attendance at board
meetings if the member travels more than forty miles round trip
to attend a board meeting. If needed to ensure a quorum at a board
meeting, a current or former member of a local board may serve as a
substitute on a board other than his the member's own
board, whether or not the substitute member is a resident of the judicial
circuit of that board./
Amend further, by inserting at the end of Section 1:
/Section 20-7-2399. The division shall promulgate regulations to carry
out the provisions of this subarticle./
Amend further, by deleting Section 2 and inserting:
/SECTION 2. Regulations 21-1 through 24-37 are repealed and the
Division for the Review of Foster Care of Children in the Office of the
Governor shall promulgate new regulations before January 1, 1996.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor./
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Majority favorable. Minority unfavorable.
DAVE C. WALDROP, JR. BESSIE MOODY-LAWRENCE
FLOYD BREELAND
JOSEPH H. NEAL
HARRY R. ASKINS
G. RALPH DAVENPORT, JR.
For Majority. For Minority.
STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED FISCAL
IMPACT
1. Estimated Cost to State-First Year$-0-
2. Estimated Cost to State-Annually
Thereafter $-0-
House Bill 4579 proposes to amend Subarticle 4, Article 13, Chapter
7, Title 20 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976, relating to Foster
Care Review Boards, so to revise board procedures and standards for
review, to eliminate the board supporting the Division of Review of the
Foster Care of Children in the Office of the Governor, to change the
procedures for selection of local board members, and to limit board
member reimbursement.
Section 1 creates sixteen local boards for review of cases of children
in foster care for the Division of Review of the Foster Care of Children
in the Office of the Governor; outlines the functions and powers of local
review boards; authorizes a local review board to participate in a judicial
review involving a child in foster care; provides for confidentiality of
identifying information in the possession of local boards; eliminates the
South Carolina Board of Directors for Review of Foster Care of
Children and its authority; and eliminates per diem and subsistence for
local board members and limits allow mileage reimbursements only if
the member travels more than forty miles round trip to attend a board
meeting.
Enactment of this bill would not require the expenditure of any
additional state general funds. As proposed, this bill would result in cost
savings of approximately $46,418 paid for per diem and meals. During
FY 1992-93, total reimbursements to state and local board members for
per diem, mileage and meals totaled $51,419. House Bill 4579
eliminates reimbursements for per diem and meals and only provides for
payment of mileage if the round trip mileage exceeds forty (40) miles.
Unrestricted mileage payments for FY 1992-93 amounted to $5,000.
With the proposed limitations on mileage payments in this bill, mileage
reimbursements could possibly be less than the amount paid in the
previous fiscal year.
Prepared By: Approved By:
Kenneth Brown George N. Dorn, Jr.
State Budget Analyst State Budget Division
A BILL
TO AMEND SUBARTICLE 4, ARTICLE 13, CHAPTER 7, TITLE 20,
CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, AS AMENDED,
RELATING TO FOSTER CARE REVIEW BOARDS, SO AS TO
REVISE BOARD PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS FOR REVIEW,
TO ELIMINATE THE BOARD SUPPORTING THE DIVISION OF
REVIEW OF THE FOSTER CARE OF CHILDREN IN THE OFFICE
OF THE GOVERNOR, TO CHANGE THE PROCEDURES FOR
SELECTION OF LOCAL BOARD MEMBERS, AND TO LIMIT
BOARD MEMBER REIMBURSEMENT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Subarticle 4, Article 13, Chapter 7, Title 20 of the 1976
Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"Subarticle 4
Foster Care Review Board
Section 20-7-2374. (A) There are created sixteen local boards
for review of cases of children in foster care for the Division of Review
of the Foster Care of Children in the Office of the Governor, one in each
judicial circuit, composed of five members appointed by the Governor.
A person desiring to serve on a local board shall submit an application
to the division. The division director shall forward applications and
recommendations, if any, to the Governor for consideration. A local
board member must be a resident of the judicial circuit which the
member represents, except where a current or former member is
substituting for an absent member. Each local board shall elect a
chairman from among its members.
(B) If the director determines that additional local review boards are
necessary in a judicial circuit because of an excessively large case load
for review or if the local board is no longer necessary because of a
reduced case load, the director may create or dissolve local review
boards. Boards created by the director have the authority and duties
provided for the boards by this subarticle.
Section 20-7-2376. The functions and powers of local foster care
review boards are to:
(A) To (1) review every six months but no less
frequently than once every six months the cases of children who have
resided reside in public foster care for a period of more
than four consecutive months and to review every six months the cases
of children who have resided in private foster care for a period of more
than six consecutive months to determine what efforts have been
made by the supervising agency or child caring facility to acquire a
permanent home for the child. The initial review must be conducted
after the child has been in foster care for seventy-five consecutive days
but before one hundred twenty-five days. A child's return home for
temporary placements, trial placements, visits, holidays, weekend visits,
or changes from one foster care placement to another must not be
construed to mean a break or lapse in determination of a consecutive
four-month seventy-five-day period; for children in
public foster care or six-month period for children in private foster care;
(B) To recommend continued placement of a child in the child caring
facility, unless the parent is able to resume care, in at least those
instances when:
(1) Children are privately placed in privately-owned facilities or
group homes;
(2) A notarized affidavit of summary review is executed by the
child caring facility and is valid on its face. The affidavit of summary
review must be submitted to the board every six months and accepted by
the board if it is valid on its face. The affidavit must attest to the
following conditions:
(a) The person who placed the child has legal custody of the
child;
(b) No court has ordered or approved the placement of the child
in the care of the child caring facility except as a part of an order
granting legal custody of the child to a parent or legal guardian; (c) The facility has no knowledge that a child has ever been abused,
neglected, or abandoned while under the care of the person who placed
the child in the facility;
(d) The person who placed the child contributes regularly to the
support of the child to the level of his ability and has done so for a
period of six months immediately prior to the date of the affidavit; (e) The person who placed the child has maintained contact and
visitation with the child to the best of his ability under existing
circumstances.
(C) To (2) encourage the return
placement of children to with their natural
parents families, except as provided in item (B) of this
section, or, upon determination during a case review of the
local review board during a case review that this return
placement with their families is not in the best interest of the
child, to recommend to initiate procedures pursuant to law
to free the child for adoption or recommend that the appropriate
agency action be taken for a take maximum effort to
place the child for adoption;
(D) To (3) promote and encourage all agencies and
facilities involved in placing children in foster care to place children
with persons suitable and eligible as adoptive parents;
(E) To (4) advise foster parents of their right to
petition the family court for termination of parental rights and for
adoption and to encourage these foster parents to initiate these
proceedings in an appropriate case when it has been determined by the
local review board that return to the natural parent is not in the best
interest of the child;
(F) To (5) recommend that a child caring facility or
agency exert all possible efforts to make arrangements for permanent
guardianship or permanent foster care or
guardianship for children for whom return to natural parents or
adoption is not feasible or possible as determined during a case review
by the local review board;
(G) To (6) report to the state office of the Department
of Social Services and other adoptive or foster care agencies any
deficiencies in these agencies' efforts to secure permanent homes for
children discovered in the local board's review of these cases as
provided for in items (A) (1) and (2)(B) of
this section.
Any case findings or recommendations of a local review board are
advisory.
Section 20-7-2377. A local review board may participate in a
judicial review involving a child in foster care including the ability to
introduce, examine, and cross-examine witnesses. However, nothing in
this section may be construed to require the involvement of the local
board in a proceeding. Notice of intent to participate must be provided
by the division to all parties and may be given by telephone or in
writing.
Section 20-7-2378. (A) All identifying information in the
possession of local boards is confidential and must be withheld from
public inspection. If a local review board member takes individual case
notes, these must be kept in the official review board files when the
board is not in session. Staff and the local boards shall maintain all case
files in locked file cabinets in the review board system's office. This
section may not be construed to permit disclosure of information broader
than is permitted by law or to permit lesser confidentiality of records
than the agency or facility providing the records. All board members and
staff shall sign a statement agreeing to the confidentiality requirement
and acknowledgment of notification of the penalties for violation of this
requirement. Board members and staff are subject to the same standards
of confidentiality as Department of Social Services and other agency
employees.
(B) Except as otherwise prohibited by law, information from case
records may be released to the following:
(1) division staff;
(2) the local boards and their staff;
(3) the child-caring agency or facility involved;
(4) federal or state courts or other administrative bodies or
persons when required by federal or state law or pursuant to court order;
(5) law enforcement as necessary to investigate allegations of
child abuse or neglect.
Section 20-7-2379. There is created the South Carolina Board of
Directors for Review of Foster Care of Children consisting of seven
members, all of whom must be past or present members of local review
boards. There must be one member from each congressional district and
one member from the State at large, all appointed by the Governor with
the advice and consent of the Senate. Terms of office for the members
of the board are for four years and until their successors are appointed
and qualify. Of the initial appointments, the Governor shall designate
two members to serve for one year, two for a term of two years, two for
a term of three years, and one for a term of four years. Thereafter,
appointments must be made by the Governor in the manner as prescribed
above for terms of four years to expire on June thirtieth of the
appropriate year. The board shall elect from its members a chairman
who shall serve for two years. Four members of the board constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business. Members of the board shall
receive per diem, mileage, and subsistence as provided by law for
members of boards, commissions, and committees while engaged in the
work of the board. The board shall meet at least quarterly and more
frequently upon the call of the chairman to review and coordinate the
activities of the local review boards and make recommendations to the
General Assembly with regard to foster care policies, procedures, and
deficiencies of public and private agencies which arrange for foster care
of children as determined by the review of cases provided for in items
(A) and (B) of S 20-7-2376. These recommendations must be included
in an annual report, filed with the General Assembly, of the activities of
the state office and local review boards. The board of directors shall
promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of this subarticle.
These regulations shall provide for and must be limited to procedures
for: reviewing reports and other necessary information at state, county,
and private agencies and facilities; scheduling of reviews and
notification of interested parties; conducting local review board and
board of directors' meetings; disseminating local review board
recommendations, including reporting to the appropriate family court
judges the status of judicially approved treatment plans; and developing
policies for summary review of children privately placed in
privately-owned facilities or group homes. The board is authorized to
employ a director who may be paid an annual salary to be determined by
the General Assembly. The board may remove the director at any time
for any reason. The director shall employ staff as is necessary to carry
out the provisions of this subarticle, and the staff must be compensated
in an amount and in a manner as may be determined by the General
Assembly. The provisions of this subarticle may not be construed to
provide for subpoena authority.
Section 20-7-2382. After participating in a training program of the
system for the review of foster care of children, a local review board
member is not liable for damages for personal injury as a result of an act
or omission in the discharge of his the board member's
duties as a member if he the member acts in good faith
and his the member's conduct does not constitute gross
negligence, recklessness, wilfulness, or wantonness.
Section 20-7-2385. There are created sixteen local boards for
review of cases of children receiving foster care, one in each judicial
circuit, composed of five members appointed by the Governor upon
recommendation of the legislative delegation of each county within the
circuit for terms of four years and until their successors are appointed
and qualify. If the county legislative delegations within a judicial circuit
have not recommended to the Governor a person to fill a review board
vacancy within ninety days after being notified by certified mail that the
vacancy exists, then the local review boards in the judicial circuit may
recommend to the Governor someone to fill the vacancy. All local board
members must be residents of the judicial circuit which they represent,
except where a current or former member is substituting for an absent
member. Local boards shall elect their chairman.
If the board of directors determines that additional local review boards
are necessary in a judicial circuit because of an excessively large case
load for review or if the local board is no longer necessary because of a
reduced case load, the board may create or dissolve local review boards
by resolution, and the boards created have all authority and duties
provided for the boards by the provisions of this subarticle.
Section 20-7-2388. Local boards shall conduct meetings in the
judicial circuit which they represent. A quorum is three
members. Each board must be provided sufficient staff to perform
its functions as set forth in this subarticle with funds provided in the
annual state general appropriations act. Members of the local boards
and former members substituting for an absent member may not
receive compensation for their services but must be allowed mileage,
per diem, and subsistence as provided by law for state boards,
committees, and commissions for attendance at board meetings
if the member travels more than forty miles round trip to attend a
board meeting. If needed to ensure a quorum at a board meeting, a
current or former member of a local board may serve as a substitute on
a board other than his the member's own board, whether
or not the substitute member is a resident of the judicial circuit of that
board.
Section 20-7-2391. Any person or agency aggrieved by an action
or recommendation of a local review board may seek relief by petition
to the family court of that county which shall issue a rule to show cause
why the action or recommendation of the local review board should not
be set aside or modified. If a child caring facility or agency is not in
agreement with the local review board recommendation relating to
permanent placement of a child in its care, the child caring facility or
agency shall notify the chairman of the local review board within
twenty-one days after receipt of the recommendation.
Section 20-7-2394. All public and private agencies and facilities
which provide for or arrange foster care for children shall cooperate with
the board of directors division director and local review
boards by making available for review, upon request, records
as may be requested on children subject to review by a local
review board. All records must be made available in a timely
manner and when requested for a case review, must be available before
the scheduled review date. When records are requested at a time other
than for a case review, the request must be made by the division director
or the attorney for the division. Records include pleadings filed with the
court and those records made confidential pursuant to Section 20-7-690.
Pleadings and notices relative to judicial review must be sent to the
division at the time of filing with the court.
Section 20-7-2397. The provisions of this subarticle may not be
construed to limit or delay actions by agencies or facilities to arrange for
adoptions, foster care, termination of parental rights, or other related
matters on their own initiative, nor do and the
provisions of this subarticle in any manner do not alter
or restrict in any manner the duties and authority of these
agencies and facilities in those matters."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
-----XX----- |