S*577 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S*0577(Rat #0135, Act #0157 of 1997) Joint Resolution, By Fair, Bryan,
Courtney, Glover, Holland, McConnell and Moore
Similar(H 3770)
A JOINT RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES TO ESTABLISH
A PILOT CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES SYSTEM IN ONE REGION OF THE STATE WHICH
ALLOWS THE DEPARTMENT TO DIVERT CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT CASES TO AN ASSESSMENT
TRACK RATHER THAN FOLLOWING NORMAL PROTOCOL WHEN CERTAIN MORE SERIOUS FORMS OF
ALLEGED ABUSE OR NEGLECT ARE NOT PRESENT; TO ESTABLISH THE PROCEDURES UNDER
WHICH THE DEPARTMENT SHALL OPERATE THIS PILOT; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO
COLLABORATE WITH THE COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY FORMAL AND INFORMAL SERVICES FOR
ABUSED CHILDREN AND FAMILIES OF ABUSED CHILDREN; AND TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT
TO GATHER INFORMATION CONCERNING REPORTS OF EXCESSIVE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT AND
TO REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR AND HOUSE AND SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEES WHETHER
CHILD ABUSE DEFINITIONS AND HANDLING OF SUCH REPORTS SHOULD BE
MODIFIED.-AMENDED TITLE
03/26/97 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-10
03/26/97 Senate Referred to Committee on General SJ-10
04/16/97 Senate Polled out of committee General SJ-11
04/16/97 Senate Committee report: without recommendation General SJ-11
04/17/97 Senate Read second time SJ-18
04/22/97 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-29
04/23/97 House Introduced and read first time HJ-9
04/23/97 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-10
04/29/97 House Recalled from Committee on Judiciary HJ-111
04/30/97 House Debate adjourned until Thursday, May 1, 1997 HJ-69
05/01/97 House Debate adjourned until Tuesday, May 6, 1997 HJ-27
05/07/97 House Amended HJ-45
05/07/97 House Read second time HJ-50
05/08/97 House Read third time and returned to Senate with
amendments HJ-16
05/15/97 Senate Concurred in House amendment and enrolled SJ-12
06/04/97 Ratified R 135
06/10/97 Signed By Governor
06/10/97 Effective date 06/10/97
06/24/97 Copies available
09/18/97 Act No. 157
(A157, R135, S577)
A JOINT RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT
OF SOCIAL SERVICES TO ESTABLISH A PILOT CHILD
PROTECTIVE SERVICES SYSTEM IN ONE REGION OF THE
STATE WHICH ALLOWS THE DEPARTMENT TO DIVERT CHILD
ABUSE AND NEGLECT CASES TO AN ASSESSMENT TRACK
RATHER THAN FOLLOWING NORMAL PROTOCOL WHEN
CERTAIN MORE SERIOUS FORMS OF ALLEGED ABUSE OR
NEGLECT ARE NOT PRESENT; TO ESTABLISH THE
PROCEDURES UNDER WHICH THE DEPARTMENT SHALL
OPERATE THIS PILOT; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO
COLLABORATE WITH THE COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY FORMAL
AND INFORMAL SERVICES FOR ABUSED CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES OF ABUSED CHILDREN; AND TO DIRECT THE
DEPARTMENT TO GATHER INFORMATION CONCERNING
REPORTS OF EXCESSIVE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT AND TO
REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR AND HOUSE AND SENATE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEES WHETHER CHILD ABUSE
DEFINITIONS AND HANDLING OF SUCH REPORTS SHOULD BE
MODIFIED.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Pilot Child Protective Services System
SECTION 1. (A) The Department of Social Services is authorized to
establish in one region or up to three counties of the State a pilot child
protective services system as set forth in this joint resolution. The pilot
shall commence no sooner than January 1, 1998, and no later than January
1, 1999. It shall continue for two years after it is commenced and until the
conclusion of the next legislative session thereafter. The pilot will test a
child protection system that acknowledges the different intervention needs
of families by providing for a family assessment track instead of normal
protocol in certain cases. For purposes of this pilot, the definitions of
child abuse and neglect and related terms as contained in Section
20-7-490 of the 1976 Code apply and nothing in this joint resolution may
be construed to expand the jurisdiction of the department. It is the intent
of the General Assembly that an alternative manner of intervention be
developed that diminishes the need for family court involvement but does
not increase the number of families receiving child protective service
interventions. Provisions of Chapter 7, Title 20 of the 1976 Code that do
not conflict with the provisions of this joint resolution apply to the pilot.
(B) Before the pilot child protective services system is instituted, the
department shall assure that all participants in the pilot are thoroughly
trained in matters relating to their role in the pilot, utilizing to the extent
possible existing training resources for each profession. At a minimum,
training should be provided to caseworkers, attorneys, solicitors,
guardians ad litem, judges, and law enforcement personnel. Informational
materials concerning the pilot should be prepared for families and their
attorneys.
(C) Within fifteen months after commencement of the pilot, the
department shall submit to the Governor and the chairs of the House and
Senate Judiciary committees a preliminary independent evaluation of the
first year of the pilot child protection system, conducted according to
accepted and objective research principles. The department shall submit
to the Governor and the chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary
committees a final evaluation of the pilot child protection system within
twenty-seven months after commencement of the pilot. Outcomes to be
evaluated include, but are not limited to, cost, effect on the demand for
judicial and departmental resources, attitudes of participants in the pilot,
effect on the well-being of children, and the effectiveness of the
assessment track as a tool to keep families together.
Initial case evaluation
SECTION 2. (A) The department must screen all reports of
suspected child abuse and neglect to determine whether the report alleges
facts constituting child abuse and neglect as defined in Section 20-7-490
of the 1976 Code. Only reports that allege facts constituting child abuse
and neglect may be accepted. Each report immediately must be routed to
an appropriate employee of the department for investigation or
assessment. If the department determines that the child should be taken
into custody, it must proceed as provided in Section 20-7-610 of the 1976
Code.
(B) Within twenty-four hours after a report is accepted, the department
must initiate an investigation or an assessment to determine whether
agency intervention is necessary and the form that intervention should
take. An investigation or assessment must be initiated in response to all
reports that allege child abuse or neglect in which the parent, guardian, or
other person responsible for the child's welfare:
(1) inflicts physical injury upon the child, as defined in Section
20-7-490 of the 1976 Code;
(2) commits against the child a sexual offense as defined by the
laws of this State;
(3) wilfully or recklessly allows another person to inflict physical
injury upon the child or to commit a sexual offense against the child;
(4) wilfully or recklessly inflicts or allows another to inflict upon
the child mental injury;
(5) abandons the child;
(6) encourages or approves the commission of delinquent acts by
the child and the commission of the acts is shown to be the result of the
encouragement or approval; or
(7) wilfully or recklessly fails to supply the child with adequate
food, clothing, shelter, education, supervision, or health care though
financially able to do so or offered financial or other reasonable means to
do so where the failure has caused physical or mental injury.
These enumerated conditions of child abuse and neglect must be
interpreted consistently with Section 20-7-490 of the 1976 Code.
Assessment procedures
SECTION 3. (A) In cases determined to be appropriate for an
assessment track, the department must within twenty-four hours after
acceptance of the report commence an assessment to determine whether
or not the child is an abused or neglected child as defined in Section
20-7-490 of the 1976 Code and, if so, to identify and facilitate the
provision of services to minimize the threat of future abuse and neglect.
This determination must be made within thirty days after the assessment
is commenced. If the department determines that children in the home
have not been abused or neglected, the case must be closed. When
closing a case, the department may refer the family to appropriate service
providers or provide written information to the family concerning
problems identified in the assessment. An assessment does not require an
indication of abuse or neglect by the department or placement of the
alleged perpetrator on the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect.
(B) In carrying out an assessment, the department shall:
(1) immediately contact the subject of the report and the family of
the child identified in the report and give each a written and oral
explanation of the assessment procedure;
(2) conduct an assessment of the child identified in the report and
other children in the home and of the service needs of the family;
(3) if the department determines that a child in the home is
threatened, develop in consultation with the parents and other relevant
persons a written plan for services to alleviate the threat to the child. The
duration of a plan may be no longer than six months, except that the
duration may be up to one year if the plan includes a type of treatment
that cannot be completed within six months. The plan must comply with
the requirements of Section 20-7-762 of the 1976 Code or if the child has
been removed from the home, Section 20-7-764 of the 1976 Code.
(C) As part of an assessment, the department may refer the case to a
qualified mediator or appoint a qualified person to convene a family
group conference to assist in development of a plan for alleviating the
threat of a recurrence of child abuse and neglect, including out-of-home
placement of the child if necessary. A plan must be agreed upon by the
participants in the mediation or family group conference and other
necessary parties within thirty days following referral to mediation or
appointment of a convener, except that this period may be extended for
up to thirty additional days if reasonable progress is being made on
development of a plan and good cause for the delay in reaching agreement
on the plan is documented in the case record. A family group conference
is a meeting of persons such as the parents or guardian of the child,
members of the child's extended family, and teachers, coaches, ministers,
or other persons close to and concerned about the child and family, to
develop a plan for the protection and placement of the child.
(D) A plan pursuant to this section must be agreed to by the parents
and any person who is identified in the plan as a provider of services to
the child or family, including any person other than a licensed foster care
provider with whom it is proposed that the child will reside. If any of
these persons does not agree to a plan, the department may proceed as
provided for in Section 20-7-738 of the 1976 Code.
(E) At the expiration of the initial plan, the department shall review
with the parents implementation of the plan and the circumstances in the
home, and:
(1) the case must be closed; or
(2) a follow-up plan of no longer than six months may be agreed to
by the department and the parents; or
(3) the case may be referred to the family court pursuant to Section
20-7-738 of the 1976 Code.
A case may not be kept open for longer than one year without court
authorization.
(F) The department shall provide, direct, coordinate, or make a referral
to services provided for in the plan and shall assist the child and family in
obtaining services.
Investigation alternative
SECTION 4. (A) If at any time during an assessment or the
implementation of a plan the department learns new information
suggesting that abuse or neglect requiring investigation pursuant to
Section 2(B) has occurred, the department immediately shall initiate an
investigation and notify the local law enforcement agency.
(B) At any time during an investigation, if the facts so warrant, the
department may reassign the case to the assessment track, and the
department may proceed as provided for in Section 3.
(C) An investigation or assessment commenced pursuant to this
section must be concluded no later than thirty days after commencement
of the investigation or assessment or forty-five days after acceptance of
the report, whichever is sooner, except that a single extension of no more
than fifteen days may be granted by the director of the department or the
director's designee for good cause shown.
Development of services for families and children
SECTION 5. The department shall collaborate with the community to
identify or develop local formal and informal services for children and
families where a child in the home has been the subject of child abuse and
neglect and the potential for a recurrence of child abuse and neglect as
defined in Section 20-7-490(4) of the 1976 Code is still present.
Revisions to procedures
SECTION 6. The procedures for conducting the pilot child protection
services system as set forth in this joint resolution may be revised as
necessary by promulgation of emergency regulations in accordance with
the standards and procedures in Section 1-23-130 of the 1976 Code.
Study of excessive corporal punishment
SECTION 7. For a period of at least six months and no longer than
one year following initiation of the pilot project, the department shall
collect and analyze information concerning reports of "excessive
corporal punishment" as provided for in Section 20-7-490(3)(a) of
the 1976 Code. This information shall include, but not be limited to, the
age and sex of the child; the form of punishment administered; the type,
extent, location, and severity of the resulting injury to the child; whether
the report was indicated or unfounded; whether the child was removed
from the home; whether the case was heard by a court; whether the
perpetrator was entered on the Central Registry of Child Abuse and
Neglect; the nature of any intervention agreed to by the family or ordered
by the court; and, to the extent known whether the case was investigated
by law enforcement and the disposition of the case in the criminal justice
system. Within sixty days after collection of information has been
completed, the department shall prepare and submit to the Governor and
the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees a report on
the results of this study and recommendations concerning whether the
definition of child abuse as it pertains to "excessive corporal
punishment" or the handling of reports of "excessive corporal
punishment" should be modified, either in the pilot project or in the
child protection system as a whole, in light of the results of the study.
Time effective
SECTION 8. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by the
Governor.
Approved the 10th day of June, 1997. |