H 3985 Session 110 (1993-1994)
H 3985 General Bill, By J.G. McAbee, P.B. Harris and W.D. Keyserling
Similar(S 727)
A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, so as to enact the
"Children's and Family Services Act of 1993" so as to establish the Department
of Children's and Family Services and to create within the Department the
Divisions for Aging Programs and Adult Services, Children's Services, Economic
Services, Review of Foster Care of Children, to abolish the South Carolina
Board of Social Services and the South Carolina Commission on Aging, to make
the board of the county departments of social services advisory, to abolish
the Board of the Department of Youth Services, the Board of the John De La
Howe School, the Board of the Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School, and to abolish
the South Carolina Board of Directors for Review of Foster Care of Children
and to create an advisory board.-short title
04/14/93 House Introduced and read first time HJ-20
04/14/93 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-20
A BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
SO AS TO ENACT THE "CHILDREN'S AND FAMILY
SERVICES ACT OF 1993" SO AS TO ESTABLISH THE
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S AND FAMILY SERVICES AND
TO CREATE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT THE DIVISIONS FOR
AGING PROGRAMS AND ADULT SERVICES, CHILDREN'S
SERVICES, ECONOMIC SERVICES, REVIEW OF FOSTER CARE
OF CHILDREN, TO ABOLISH THE SOUTH CAROLINA BOARD
OF SOCIAL SERVICES AND THE SOUTH CAROLINA
COMMISSION ON AGING, TO MAKE THE BOARDS OF THE
COUNTY DEPARTMENTS OF SOCIAL SERVICES ADVISORY, TO
ABOLISH THE BOARD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH
SERVICES, THE BOARD OF THE JOHN DE LA HOWE SCHOOL,
THE BOARD OF THE WIL LOU GRAY OPPORTUNITY SCHOOL,
AND TO ABOLISH THE SOUTH CAROLINA BOARD OF
DIRECTORS FOR REVIEW OF FOSTER CARE OF CHILDREN
AND TO CREATE AN ADVISORY BOARD; TO AMEND TITLE 43,
CHAPTERS 1, 3, AND 21; 12-21-3441, 12-21-3590, 43-29-10,
43-29-20, 43-29-30, 43-29-50, 43-29-70, 43-29-80, 43-29-90, 43-38-20,
43-38-30, 20-7-30, 20-7-340, 20-7-490, 20-7-510, 20-7-520, 20-7-530,
20-7-610, 20-7-640, 20-7-650, 20-7-655, 20-7-660, 20-7-670, 20-7-680,
20-7-690, 20-7-1440, 20-7-1645, 20-7-1650, 20-7-1705, 20-7-1750,
20-7-1780, 20-7-1895, 20-7-1897, 20-7-1900, 20-7-1920, 20-7-1925,
20-7-1930, 20-7-1940, 20-7-1950, 20-7-1958, 20-7-1960, 20-7-1970,
20-7-2000, 20-7-2010, 20-7-2020, 20-7-2060, 20-7-2070, 20-7-2240,
20-7-2250, 20-7-2260, 20-7-2270, 20-7-2280, 20-7-2290, 20-7-2307,
20-7-2310, 20-7-2323, 20-7-2340, 20-7-2610, 20-7-2640, 20-7-2650,
20-7-2700, 20-7-2710, 20-7-2720, 20-7-2730, 20-7-2740, 20-7-2750,
20-7-2760, 20-7-2780, 20-7-2790, 20-7-2800, 20-7-2810, 20-7-2820,
20-7-2830, 20-7-2840, 20-7-2850, 20-7-2860, 20-7-2870, 20-7-2880,
20-7-2890, 20-7-2910, 20-7-2920, 20-7-2930, 20-7-2940, 20-7-2980,
20-7-2990, 20-7-3000, 20-7-3010, 20-7-3020, 20-7-3030, 20-7-3050,
20-7-3060, 20-7-5420, 20-7-852, 20-7-952, 20-7-955, 20-7-970,
20-7-1015, 20-7-1040, 20-7-1145, 20-7-1315, 20-7-1317, 20-7-1322,
20-7-2450, 20-7-2460, 20-7-2470, 20-7-2480, 20-7-2500; TITLE 43,
CHAPTER 5, ARTICLES 1, 3, AND 5; 43-7-20, 43-7-220, 20-7-2376,
20-7-2379, 20-7-2385, 20-7-2394, 59-49-10, 59-49-70, 59-49-80,
59-49-100, 59-49-110, 59-49-140, 59-49-150, 20-7-600, 20-7-630,
20-7-770, 20-7-780, 20-7-1330, 20-7-1490, 20-7-2095, 20-7-2115,
20-7-2125, 20-7-2155, 20-7-3110, 20-7-3190, 20-7-3210, 20-7-3220,
20-7-3220, 20-7-3230, 20-7-3235, 20-7-3240, 20-7-3270, 20-7-3280,
20-7-3300, 20-7-3310, 59-51-30, 59-51-40, AND 59-51-50; AND TO
REPEAL SECTIONS 20-7-2308, 20-7-2309, 20-7-2327, 20-7-2335,
20-7-2337, 20-7-2365, 20-7-2950, 20-7-3100, 20-7-3110, 20-7-3120,
20-7-3130, 20-7-3140, 20-7-3150, 20-7-3160, 20-7-3170, 20-7-3180,
20-7-3200, 20-7-3250, 59-49-20, 59-49-30, 59-49-40, 59-49-60,
59-49-90, 59-49-120; AND TO PROVIDE TRANSITION AND
SEVERABILITY PROVISIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "Children's and Family
Services Act of 1993".
SECTION 2. Department of Children's and Family Services, General
Provisions
(1) Chapter 1 of Title 43 is amended to read:
CHAPTER 1
Department of Children's and Family Services
Section 43-1-5. (A) There is created the Department of
Children's and Family Services headed by a director. The director shall
oversee, manage, and control the operation, administration, and
organization of the department and may appoint such advisory or ad hoc
committees to assist the department as needed.
(B) The following agencies, boards, and commissions, including all
of the allied, advisory, affiliated, or related entities as well as the
employees, funds, property and all contractual rights and obligations
associated with these agencies, are transferred to and incorporated in and
must be administered as part of the Department of Children's and Family
Services to be initially divided into divisions for Aging Programs and
Adult Services, Children's Services, Economic Services, and Review of
Foster Care of Children:
(A) Commission on Aging, formerly provided for at Section
43-21-10, et seq.;
(B) Foster Care Review Board, formerly provided for at Section
20-7-2376, et seq.;
(C) John De La Howe School, formerly provided for at Section
59-49-10 et seq.;
(D) Department of Social Services, formerly provided for at
Section 43-1-10, et seq;
(E) Department of Youth Services, formerly provided for at Section
20-7-3100, et seq;
(F) Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School, formerly provided at Section
59-51-30, et seq;
(G) Department of Social Services, Adult Protective Services and
other Adult Services Programs, formerly provided for at Section
43-1-10, et seq. and Section 43-29-10;
(H) State Health and Human Services Finance Commission,
Community Long Term Care Program, formerly provided for at Section
44-6-10, et seq;
(I) Governor's Office Long Term Care Ombudsman Division,
formerly provided for at Section 43-38-10, et seq;
(J) Department of Health and Environmental Control, Home and
Health Services.
Section 43-1-10. There is are created
established in the State Department of Social
Children's and Family Services, referred to in this Title
Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7 as the State department, with
such subordinate divisions the Division of Aging Programs and
Adult Services, the Division of Children's Services, the Division of
Economic Services, and the Division for Review of Foster Care of
Children, and other divisions as may be created or authorized by
law. The State Department shall operate under the South Carolina
Board of Social Services. The director of the department shall
appoint a deputy director for each division and only may be dismissed
for cause.
Section 43-1-20. The members of the South Carolina Board of
Social Services shall be elected by the General Assembly and shall
consist of a chairman elected from the State at large and one
commissioner elected from each congressional district. The members
first elected from the first, third and fifth districts having served for two
years and until their successors have been duly elected and qualified and
the chairman and members from the second, fourth and sixth districts
having served for four years and until their successors have been duly
elected and qualified, the successors of the original members have
served and shall hereafter serve for terms of four years and until their
successors have been duly elected and qualified. No member of the
General Assembly shall be eligible for election as chairman or member
of the Board. In case of any vacancy by death, resignation or otherwise
in the office of chairman or member from any district, the Governor
shall appoint a successor to serve only for the unexpired term.
Section 43-1-25. No member of the State Board of Social Services,
directly or indirectly, (a) individually, (b) as a member of a partnership
or of an association, (c) as a member or stockholder of a corporation, or
(d) as a relative to any person by consanguinity or affinity within the
second degree shall have any interest in any business which contracts
with the Department of Social Services to provide services.
Section 43-1-30. Members of the Board shall receive travel and per
diem as provided under the law for State Boards, Commissions and
Committees.
Section 43-1-40. The Board shall meet not less than once a month on
regular dates fixed by it. A majority of the Board shall constitute a
quorum and decide all matters. The Board may adopt its own rules and
procedure for the government of its deliberations not otherwise provided
by law.
Section 43-1-50. The Board shall select as the chief executive officer
and as the administrative head of the State Department a State
Commissioner of Social Services, referred to in Chapters 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 19
and 23 as the State Commissioner, who shall hold office until his
successor has been elected and qualified. The Commissioner shall
execute the decisions and carry out the policies of the Board and see that
the laws relating to the activities and responsibilities of the Board are
obeyed. He shall receive such salary as the Board shall fix, unless the
General Assembly shall have fixed his compensation in the annual
appropriation act or otherwise. The Board may require the
Commissioner to furnish bond in such sum as the Board may require and
may designate the duties of the Commissioner not otherwise specified
by law.
Section 43-1-60. The State Board director of the
department or his designee may create (1) a State Advisory Council
of Social Children's and Family Services to consider
and advise with the department on its problems and the remedies
therefor, such Council not to exceed fifteen members. The members of
such Council shall serve without compensation or allowance for
expenses; (2) Such advisory committees as are required by Federal law
or regulations regarding the programs which the department administers.
These advisory committees, as are required by Federal law or regulation,
shall receive travel and per diem as provided under the law for State
Boards, Commissions, or Committees; and (3) Other committees the
Board director may deem necessary for prudent
administration of the programs administered by the department. Such
committees may be reimbursed travel expenses as provided under the
law and regulations for State employees but shall receive no per diem
payment.
All subsistence and per diem authorized under the provisions of this
section shall be paid from funds available to the department of Social
Services.
Section 43-1-70. Subject to standards adopted by the State
department, the State Commissioner deputy director of each
division may appoint and employ, with the approval of
the Board, such other officers and employees as are
authorized and may be necessary to perform the duties placed upon the
department respective divisions by law, and the
Board shall fix their compensation unless the General Assembly
shall do so, but in no event shall the Board deputy
director expend any sums for purposes unauthorized by law. All
such compensation shall be fixed by the State department, which
shall submit to the State Budget and Control Board all proposed salaries
not fixed by law, and the State Budget and Control Board shall pass
upon such salaries so that the amounts paid shall be in keeping with the
salaries paid to other State employees for similar service and duties. The
Board deputy director may require such officers
and employees to furnish bonds in such amounts as it may
determine. The selection of such officers and employees shall
be made entirely upon the qualification and merit of the individuals so
employed.
Section 43-1-80. The State department director of the
department or his designee shall supervise and administer the
public welfare activities and functions family programs and
services the public welfare activities and functions of the
State as provided in Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19, and
23 and child protective services as referred to in Title 20, Chapter
7 or as otherwise authorized by law and may act as the agent of the
State, cooperate with any federal agency for the purpose of carrying out
matters of mutual concern, and administer any federal funds granted the
State in the furtherance of the duties imposed upon the State
department. The department shall study the various social problems
confronting the State, inquiring into their causes and possible cures,
making such surveys, gathering such statistics, and formulating such
recommended public policies in connection thereto as may be in the
interest of the State, and shall make such information available in
published form. The department director of the department
or his designee may adopt all necessary rules and
regulations and formulate policies and methods of administration, when
not otherwise fixed by law, to carry out effectively the activities and
responsibilities delegated to it. The aim of the department shall be to
promote the unified development of welfare activities and
agencies family programs and services of the State and
local governments so that each agency and governmental institution may
function as an integral part of a general system.
Section 43-1-90. The State department director of the
department or his designee shall supervise the administration of
assistance under Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19 and 23
and other family programs and services. The State
department shall prescribe the form of and print and supply to county
departments blanks of applications, reports, affidavits and such other
forms as it may deem advisable. The State department
director of the department or his designee shall make rules
and regulations necessary for the carrying out of the provisions of
Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19 and 23 to the end that
assistance and other family programs and services be
administered uniformly throughout the State, having regard to the
varying conditions in different parts of the State, and that the spirit and
purpose of Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19 and 23 may be
complied with. All such rules and regulations made by the
State department director of the department or his
designee shall be binding upon the county departments and shall be
complied with by them.
Section 43-1-100. The State department may make
investigations into the administration and affairs of any institution or
agency, public or private, concerned with the care, custody or training
of persons or the handling of problems of delinquency, dependency or
defectiveness.
Section 43-1-110. The State department may cooperate with
the Federal Government, its agencies or instrumentalities, in the
administration of Child Welfare Services as provided in Title V, Part 3,
of the Federal Social Security Act relative to establishing, extending and
strengthening services for the protection and care of homeless,
dependent and neglected children and children in danger of becoming
delinquent in predominantly rural areas and other areas of special need
and may receive and expend all funds made available to the department
by the Federal Government, the State or its political subdivisions for
such purposes.
Section 43-1-120. The State department may take such
action as it may deem necessary, from time to time, to enable the
department to secure for the State and its residents the full benefits
available under the Social Security Act of Congress and any
amendments thereof and under any other Federal legislation having for
its purpose the improvement or extension of social and welfare
assistance, family programs and services, or other
services to the people of the United States. But nothing contained in this
section shall be construed to authorize any action by the department in
violation of the law of this State.
Section 43-1-130. The State Department of Social
Children's and Family Services is authorized to pay to the
appropriate Federal agency its share of the work incentive program as
required by Section 443 of Title IV of the Federal Social Security Act.
Section 43-1-140. The State department shall keep proper
records, including such as may be required by the Federal Government
through its appropriate agency or instrumentality, and report such
information and data as required.
Section 43-1-150. The State department director of the
department or his designee shall promulgate regulations to comply
with federal requirements on the use or disclosure of information
concerning applicants or recipients of public assistance, including
Medicaid. When information concerning applicants or recipients of
public assistance, including Medicaid, is furnished to or held by another
agency or department of government, that agency or department is
required to adopt regulations to comply with federal
requirements on the use or disclosure of information concerning
applicants or recipients of public assistance, including Medicaid.
Section 43-1-160. No person shall use or disclose information
concerning applicants or recipients of public assistance, including
Medicaid, except for purposes connected with the administration of the
applicable program or as authorized by state or federal regulations. A
person, firm, association, corporation, or other agency violating any
provision of this section, upon conviction, must be fined not more than
five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months, or
both.
Section 43-1-170. The Board director of the
department shall have prepared and submit to the Governor and the
General Assembly an annual budget, estimating the necessary funds for
discharging the duties imposed upon the department, after taking into
consideration Federal funds which have been or may be allotted to the
State for such purpose.
Section 43-1-190. The State Board director of the
department or his designee may select the depositories for its funds
pending the clearing of assistance checks and require such security on
such deposits as it shall deem practicable.
Section 43-1-200. The State Board director shall
designate and authorize the proper officers and employees of the
State department to issue its requisition upon the Comptroller
General for the payment of salaries or other expenses in the
administration of Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19 and 23.
The Comptroller General shall draw his warrant upon the State Treasurer
as directed by such requisition, and the State Treasurer shall pay such
warrants by check or otherwise. In paying assistance granted to
recipients in accordance with Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19
and 23, the State department may include in one lump
requisition the total amount it will require to meet monthly payments
from the various funds set up under the provisions of Chapters 1, 3, 5,
and 7, 9, 19 and 23 and disburse such assistance to the
individual beneficiaries by its own checks, but attached to such lump
sum requisition shall be a list of the beneficiaries and the amounts for
each making up the total requisitioned.
Section 43-1-210. The Board director shall prepare
and submit to the Governor and the General Assembly a full and detailed
report of its activities and expenditures annually, including a statement
of its personnel and the salaries paid, and shall likewise make such
recommendations and suggestions as it shall deem advisable in the
execution of its duties to the General Assembly.
Section 43-1-230. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all
direct services provided by the Department of Social
Children's and Family Services and through agreement with
other state departments or county departments under Title XX of Public
Law 93-647 shall be subject to the same planning and contractual
provisions required of private non-profit service providers."
(2) Chapter 3 of Title 43 is amended to read:
"Chapter 3
County Departments of Children's and
Family Services
Section 43-3-10. (A) There is created in each county of
the State a county department of social children's and
family services, referred to in Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9,
19 and 23 as the county department, and in each county a county
board of social children's and family services, referred
to in Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19 and 23 as the county
board, which serves only in an advisory capacity to the county
director. The county board is to be composed of not less than three
nor more than nine members. The members shall be appointed by the
Governor upon the recommendation of a majority, including the Senator,
of the county legislative delegation. The terms of the members shall be
for three years and until their successors have been appointed and
qualify. In case of a vacancy caused by death, removal, resignation or
otherwise, such vacancy shall be filled as provided in this section, but
only for the unexpired term.
(B) The county departments of children's and family services
shall administer only those programs and services in the Department of
Children's and Family Services as the Director of the Department of
Children's and Family Services prescribes or as may be provided in
law.
Section 43-3-20. Members of the county boards shall receive the
same mileage as is provided by law for state boards, committees and
commissions for travel in attending meetings and a per diem, the total
per diem not to exceed seventy-five dollars per year.
Section 43-3-30. The members of the respective county boards shall
elect one of their members as chairman. Each county board shall meet
not less than once a month on regular dates fixed by it unless the
State Director of the Department of Children's and
Family Services or his designee shall designate other regular dates
for the various county board meetings. A simple majority of the
members shall constitute a quorum and may decide all matters. Each
county board may adopt its own rules of procedure unless the
State Department of Children's and Family Services
shall promulgate uniform rules for all county boards to observe.
Section 43-3-40. Subject to rules and regulations of the State
The Director of the Department of Children's and
Family, each county board shall select a director, referred
to in Chapters 1, 3, 5, 7 and, 9, 19 and 23 as the county
director, to discharge the duties of such office. The salaries of county
directors shall be fixed by the State Director of the
Department of Children's and Family Services. In fixing the
salaries of the various county directors the State Department
Director of the Department of Children's and Family Services
shall consider the individual qualifications of the respective
county directors and the possibilities of their individual
positions. The county director shall be the chief executive officer of the
county board electing him department and shall perform
such duties as are directed by the county board Director of
the Department of Children's and Family Services
director, in conformity to the general policies of the State
department or as directed by law.
Section 43-3-50. Each county board may create a county
advisory council of social services to consider and advise with the
county board on its problems and the remedies therefor, such council not
to exceed five members. Members of such councils shall serve without
compensation or allowance for expenses.
Section 43-3-60. The respective county boards
directors shall act as the representatives of the State
Department of Children's and Family Services in administering
such welfare activities family programs and services
within the county as are provided for by law or as are directed and
required by the State Department of Children's and Family
Services when not otherwise provided for by law. Each of such
county boards directors shall see that all laws are
enforced for the protection and welfare of minors and the removal of
moral menaces to the young and to safeguard and promote the health,
education and general welfare of minors. Subject to the rules and
regulations of the State department, each of the county
boards directors may use any funds supplied to
it the county department by the county in which
it the department operates for such purposes as may be
directed by law, in addition to its other duties. Each county
board director shall serve as the agent of the
State Department of Children's and Family Services in
the performance of such functions as the director of the
State department or his designee may delegate to
it the county department.
Section 43-3-70. Each county board director shall
submit to the State department at such times as the latter shall
require its estimate of the necessary administrative expenses and
expenditures in the county, which, when approved by the State
department, shall be authority for the county board
department to engage such other agents and employees as may
be necessary in executing the duties and activities delegated to the
county board department. All such agents and
employees shall measure up to the standards fixed by the State
department as to education, training, fitness and experience in social
work.
Section 43-3-80. Each county board director shall
prepare and submit to the State department, as required by the
latter, an estimated budget for carrying out the duties and functions
delegated to the said board county director, and shall
maintain an accurate record of its activities and all funds received and
expended by it.
Section 43-3-90. The respective county boards
departments shall maintain such standards of work, procedure
and records as are required by the State Department of
Children's and Family Services in the discharge of their functions
or in the use of any funds provided by the State department.
Section 43-3-100. The records and accounts of each county shall be
maintained as prescribed by the State department and shall be
subject to inspection, supervision and audit by the State
department and in the same manner and with the same effect as may be
provided by law for the examination of other public offices.
Section 43-3-110. Each county board director shall
furnish such reports to the State Department of Children's
and Family Services as the latter shall require, including reports of
all receipts and disbursements for assistance, which shall be made in
such manner and upon such forms as the State department may
require. Each county board director shall make an
annual report of its the county department's activities,
receipts and disbursements to each member of the county legislative
delegation, to the foreman of the county grand jury and to the clerk of
court, who shall file such report in his office as a public record. Each
county board director shall furnish such reports and data
as may be required by the State department or the Federal
Government, through its appropriate agency or instrumentality,
concerning conditions within its the county, its
activities and functions of the county department, and the
administration of funds received by it the county
department."
SECTION 3. Division of Aging Programs and Adult Services
(1) Chapter 21 of Title 43 is amended to read:
"CHAPTER 21
Division of Aging Programs and
Adult Services
Section 43-21-10. There is created the South Carolina
Commission on Aging consisting of one member from each
congressional district of the State, to be appointed by the Governor,
upon the advice and consent of the Senate and one member from the
State at large to be appointed by the Governor. The members must be
citizens of the State who have an interest in and a knowledge of the
problems of the aging. In making appointments to the commission,
consideration must be given to mature citizens who are currently
providing leadership or are interested in programs for the elderly in the
State and also to the diverse problems of aging. The chairman must be
elected by the members of the commission from its appointive members
for a term of two years and until his successor is elected. Members of
the commission shall serve without compensation but shall receive such
per diem, mileage, and subsistence authorized by law for members of
boards, commissions, and committees Division of Aging
Programs and Adult Services in the Department of Children's and
Family Services which shall be administered by a deputy director
appointed by and who only may be dismissed for cause.
Section 43-21-20. The appointed members of the commission
shall serve for terms of four years and until their successors are
appointed and qualify. The terms of the appointed members expire on
June thirtieth and all vacancies must be filled in the manner of the
original appointment for the unexpired portion of the term only. No
appointed members may serve more than two consecutive terms. The
Governor may terminate the appointive members of the commission for
cause, and the reason for the termination of such appointment must be
communicated to each member of the commission.
Section 43-21-30. The commission shall meet at least six times
annually unless a majority of the members vote to eliminate a meeting.
No more than two meetings may be eliminated annually. Special
meetings may be called by the chairman or upon written request to the
chairman of a majority of the members. A majority of the members
constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business. The commission
shall elect a vice-chairman and any other officers it considers necessary
for terms of two years each or until their successors are elected and
qualify. The commission may adopt bylaws establishing rules for the
conduct of its meetings and establishing policies and administrative
procedures for carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
Section 43-21-40. The Commission division shall
be the designated State agency to implement and administer all programs
of the Federal Government relating to the aging, requiring acts within
the State which are not the specific responsibility of another State
agency under the provisions of Federal or State law. The
Commission division may accept and disburse any
funds available or which might become available pursuant to the
purposes of this chapter.
The Commission division shall study, investigate,
plan, promote, and execute a program to meet the present and future
needs of aging citizens of the State, and it shall receive the cooperation
of other State departments and agencies in carrying out a coordinated
program.
It shall also be the duty of the Commission division
to encourage and assist in the development of programs for the aging in
the counties and municipalities of this State. It shall consult and
cooperate with public and voluntary groups, with county and municipal
officers and agencies, and with any Federal or State agency or officer for
the purpose of promoting cooperation between State and local plans and
programs, and between State and interstate plans and programs for the
aging.
Without limiting the foregoing, the Commission
division is specifically authorized to:
(a) Initiate requests for the investigation of potential resources and
problems of the aging people of the State, encourage research programs,
initiate pilot projects to demonstrate new services, and promote the
training of personnel for work in the field of aging.
(b) Promote community education in the problems of older people
through institutes, publications, radio, television, and the press.
(c) Cooperate with, encourage, and assist local groups, both public
and voluntary, which are concerned with the problems of the aging.
(d) Encourage the cooperation of agencies in dealing with problems
of the aging and offer assistance to voluntary groups in the fulfillment
of their responsibility for the aging.
(e) Serve as a clearinghouse for information in the field of aging.
(f) Appoint such committees as it deems necessary for carrying out
the purposes of this chapter, such committee members to serve without
compensation.
(g) Engage in any other activity deemed necessary by the
Commission division to promote the health and
well-being of the aging citizen of this State, not inconsistent with the
purposes of this chapter or the public policies of the
State.;
(h) Certify homemakers and home health aides pursuant to the
Federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 and subsequent
amendments to that act and through regulations promulgated in
accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act establish and collect
fees for the administration of this certification program. Fees collected
must be placed on deposit with the State Treasurer. Accounting records
must be maintained in accordance with the Comptroller General's
policies and procedures. Unused fees may be carried forward to the next
fiscal year for the same purpose.;
(i) award grants and contracts to public and private organizations
for the purpose of planning, coordinating, administering, developing,
and delivering aging programs and services;
(j) designate area agencies on aging as required by the Older
Americans Act;
(k) administer the Senior Citizens Center Permanent Improvement
Fund established pursuant to Section 12-21-3441 and community
services programs in accordance with Section 12-21-3590.
Section 43-21-50. The Commission Director of the
Department of Children's and Family Services or his designee may
receive on behalf of the State any grant or grant-in-aid from government
sources, or any grant, gift, bequest, or devise from any other source.
Title to all funds and other property received pursuant to this section
shall vest in the State unless otherwise specified by the grantor.
Section 43-21-60. The commission division shall
submit an annual report to the Governor and to the General Assembly on
or before January first of each year. The report shall deal with the
present and future needs of the elderly and with the work of the
commission division during the year.
Section 43-21-70. The commission shall employ a director to be
the administrative officer of the commission who shall serve at the
pleasure of the commission.
Section 43-21-80. The Director deputy director of the
division shall appoint employ any other personnel
and consultants the commission considers necessary for the
efficient performance of the duties prescribed by this chapter and shall
fix the compensation therefor in accordance with the Human Resource
Management Division of the State Budget and Control Board and Merit
System requirements.
Section 43-21-100. The commission division shall
prepare the budget for its operation which must be submitted to the State
Budget and Control Board and to the General Assembly for approval.
Section 43-21-110. The General Assembly shall provide an annual
appropriation to carry out the work of the Commission
division.
Section 43-21-120. There is created the Coordinating Council to the
Commission on Division of Aging Programs and
Adult Services to work with the commission
division on the coordination of programs related to the field of
aging, and to advise and make pertinent recommendations to the
commission division, composed of the following: the
Commissioner of the State Department of Health and Environmental
Control, the State Commissioner Director of
Social the Department of Children's and Family
Services, the Commissioner of the State Department of Mental
Health Department, the Superintendent of Education, the
Commissioner of the State Department of Labor, the Executive Director
of the South Carolina State Employment Security Commission, the
Director of the State Development Board, the Commissioner of the State
Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Director of the Clemson
University Extension Service, the Executive Director of the South
Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, the Director of
the South Carolina Retirement System, the Executive Director of the
South Carolina Municipal Association, the Executive Director of the
State Office of Economic Opportunity, the Executive Director of the
South Carolina Association of Counties, the Commissioner of the
Commission for the Blind, the Executive Director of the State Health
and Human Services Finance Commission, the a representative of the
Director of the State Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and the
Chairperson of the State Commission on Women. The council shall
meet at least once each six months and special meetings may be called
at the discretion of the chairman or upon request of a majority of the
members. The chairman of the commission and the
deputy director of the Division of Aging Programs and
Adult Services, who shall serve as secretary to the council, shall
attend the meetings of the council. The director of each agency or
department making up the council shall serve as chairman of the council
for a term of one year. The office of chairman is held in the order in
which the membership of the council is listed in this section.
Section 43-21-130. (A)There is created the Long-Term Care Council
(council) composed of the following voting members:
(1) the Governor or his designee;
(2) the Commissioner Director of the Department
of Social Children's and Family Services;
(3) the Commissioner of the Department of Health and
Environmental Control;
(4) the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health;
(5) the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Retardation;
(6) the Executive Deputy Director of the
Commission on Division of Aging Programs and
Adult Services;
(7) the Executive Director of the Health and Human Services
Finance Commission;
(8) the Chairman of the Joint Legislative Health Care Planning
and Oversight Committee, or his designee;
(9) the Chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging, or
his designee;
(10) one representative of each of the following groups appointed
by the Governor annually:
(a) long-term care providers;
(b) long-term care consumers;
(c) persons in the insurance industry developing or marketing
a long-term care product.
(B) Each commissioner and executive director serving as a council
member may authorize in writing a designee to vote on his behalf at two
meetings a year. Members appointed by the Governor to represent
private groups serve without compensation.
(C) The council shall meet at least quarterly, provide for its own
officers, and make an annual report to the General Assembly before
January second each year. This report must include new council
recommendations.
Section 43-21-140. The council has no authority to direct or require
any implementing action from any member agency. The council shall
identify future policy issues in long-term care and may conduct research
and demonstration activities related to these issues. Through close
coordination of each member agency's planning efforts, the council shall
develop recommendations for a statewide service delivery system for all
health-impaired elderly or disabled persons, regardless of the persons'
resources or source of payment. These recommendations must be
updated annually as needed. The service delivery system must provide
for:
(1) charges based on ability to pay for persons not eligible for
Medicaid;
(2) coordination of community services;
(3) access to and receipt of an appropriate mix of long-term care
services for all health impaired elderly or disabled persons;
(4) case management; and
(5) discharge planning and services. The council, through its
member agencies, shall study and make recommendations concerning
the costs and benefits of: adult day care centers, in-home and
institutional respite care, adult foster homes, incentives for families to
provide in-home care, such as cash assistance, tax credits or deductions,
and home-delivered services to aid families caring for
chronically-impaired elderly relatives.
Section 43-21-150. The Commission on Division of
Aging Programs and Adult Services, with the cooperation of the
Long Term Care Council and the Department of Insurance, shall develop
and implement a program to educate citizens concerning:
(a) the availability of long term care services;
(b) the lifetime risk of spending some time in a nursing home;
(c) the coverage available for long term care services through
Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance policies, and the limitations
of this coverage; and
(d) the availability of home equity conversion alternatives, such
as reverse annuity mortgages and sale-leaseback arrangements, in this
State and the risks and benefits of these alternatives. This program must
be made a part of the Preretirement Education Program of the South
Carolina Retirement Systems.
Section 43-21-160. (A) There is created the Eldercare Trust Fund of
South Carolina to be administered by the South Carolina
Commission on Division of Aging Programs and Adult
Services in the Department of Children's and Family Services.
(B) All monies received from the voluntary contribution system
established in Section 12-7-2419 or any other contribution, gift, or
bequest must be placed on deposit with the State Treasurer in an
interest-bearing account.
(C) These funds must be used to award grants to public and private
nonprofit agencies and organizations to establish and administer
innovative programs and services that assist older persons to remain in
their homes and communities with maximum independence and dignity.
(D) The Eldercare Trust Fund shall supplement and augment
programs and services provided by or through state agencies but may not
take the place of these programs and services.
(E) The South Carolina Commission on Division of
Aging Programs and Adult Services shall carry out all activities
necessary to administer the fund.
Section 43-21-170. In administering the Eldercare Trust Fund, the
commission division may, but is not limited to:
(1) assess the critical needs of the frail elderly and establish
priorities for meeting these needs;
(2) receive gifts, bequests, and devises for deposit and investment
into the trust fund for awarding grants to public and private nonprofit
organizations;
(3) solicit proposals for programs that are aimed at meeting
identified service needs;
(4) provide technical assistance to public and private nonprofit
organizations, when requested, in preparing proposals for submission;
(5) establish criteria for awarding grants; and
(6) enter into contracts for the awarding of grants to public and
private nonprofit organizations.
Section 43-21-180. (A) Until the assets of the trust fund exceed five
million dollars, not more than seventy-five percent of the amount
deposited in the trust fund each year from contributions plus all earnings
from the investment of monies of the trust fund credited during the
previous fiscal year, after allowances for operating expenses, is available
for disbursement upon authorization of the commission
division.
(B) When the assets in the trust fund exceed five million dollars, all
credited earnings plus all future annual deposits to the trust fund from
contributions are available for disbursement upon authorization of the
commission division."
(2) Section 43-29-10(8) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(8) `Department Division' means the
South Carolina Division of Aging Programs and Adult
Services in the Department of Social Children's and
Family Services which has been designated as the single State
agency for services under the Social Security Act."
(3) Section 43-29-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-29-20. (1) The Department
division may provide protective services under any of the
following conditions:
(a) The person who needs or believes he needs protective service
may seek such service.
(b) Any interested person may request service on behalf of a
person in need of services.
(c) The Department division may provide
services on behalf of any person in need of protective services.
(d) The court may request such services.
(2) All protective services shall be voluntary unless ordered by the
court or requested by a parent, guardian or friend."
(4) Section 43-29-30 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-29-30. (1) The department
division, an agency, or a guardian may request the family court
or other court exercising jurisdiction to provide protective placement of
an individual for purposes of care or custody. No protective placement
may be ordered unless there is a determination by the court that the
individual is unable to provide for his own protection from abuse or
neglect by another or himself. The court shall appoint a guardian ad
litem to insure that the best interest of the person is served.
(2) The court shall give preference in making a determination to the
least drastic alternative considered to be proper under the circumstances,
including a preference for noninstitutional care wherever possible.
Before ordering the protective placement of any individual, the court
shall direct a comprehensive evaluation of the person in need of
services, if such an evaluation has not already been made. The court
may utilize available multidisciplinary resources in the community in
determining the need for placement. The department
division shall cooperate with the court in securing available
resources. A copy of the comprehensive evaluation shall be provided to
the guardian or to the guardian ad litem or attorney of the individual.
The court obtaining the evaluation shall request appropriate information
which shall include at least the following:
(a) The address of the place where the person is residing and the
person or agency who is providing services at present, if any;
(b) A resume of professional treatment and services provided to
the person by the department division or agency, if any,
in connection with the problem creating the need for placement;
(c) A medical, psychological, social, vocational and educational
evaluation and review, where necessary, and any recommendations for
or against maintenance of partial rights.
(3) The department division shall make an
evaluation and submit a written report at least once every six months
covering the physical, mental and social condition of each person for
whom it is acting and shall recommend less drastic placement or
discharge where appropriate. Any record of the department
division or other agency pertaining to such a person shall not
be open for public inspection. Information therein shall not be disclosed
publicly in such a manner as to identify individuals, but may be made
available on application for cause to persons approved by the director of
the department division or the court.
(4) Reasonable expenses for the evaluations required by this chapter
shall be assumed by the department division. The
department division shall seek appropriate Federal
reimbursement for such evaluations.
(5) Prior to discharge from the care or custody of the
department division, the department
division shall review the need for continued protective service,
including the appointment of a guardian or limited guardian. Upon
recommendation by the department division the court
may appoint such guardian.
(6) Placement may be made to such facilities as nursing homes,
boarding homes, personal medical institutions, foster care services or to
other appropriate facilities.
(7) Any person may request voluntary protective placement under
this chapter. No civil rights are relinquished as a result of such
placement."
(5) Section 43-29-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-29-50. All practitioners of the healing arts having
reasonable cause to believe that any person who is senile,
developmentally disabled or mentally ill has been subjected to physical
abuse, neglect or exploitation by another or himself shall report or cause
a report to be made as follows:
(a) An oral report, by telephone or otherwise, shall be made
immediately to the County Department of Social Children's
and Family Services or to the county sheriff's office or chief county
law-enforcement officer in the county where such person resides or is
found.
(b) Within three days following such oral report, an investigation
shall be made by the County Department of Social Children's
and Family Services or sheriff's office or chief county
law-enforcement officer and a written report prepared which will include
the following:
(1) Name, age and address of such person,
(2) Nature and extent of injury suffered by such person, including
any evidence of previous injury,
(3) Any other facts or circumstances known to the reporter which
may aid in the future determination of guilt.
All reports prepared by the county sheriff's department or chief county
law-enforcement officer shall be forwarded to the County Department
of Social Children's and Family Services within
twenty-four hours and vice versa."
(6) Section 43-29-70 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-29-70. Pending trial of any case arising from an
alleged violation of this chapter, the County Department of
Social Children's and Family Services is authorized to
provide for protective services for the person alleged to have been
abused, neglected or exploited. If a conviction results in the case, the
agency may continue such services in a private or public institution or
foster home, boarding home, nursing home or other similar facility until
suitable permanent arrangements, as per Section 43-29-80, can be made
for the person concerned. All resources of the agency shall be utilized
to insure that the abused, neglected or exploited person shall not be
subject to such further abuse, neglect or exploitation. The court in the
county shall, upon motion of the Department of Social
Children's and Family Services, provide by order such legal
protection as the court shall determine necessary to prevent such further
treatment of the person concerned and provide for his care and
custody."
(7) Section 43-29-80 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-29-80. When a County Department of
Social Children's and Family Services finds a senile,
developmentally disabled or mentally ill person who is unable because
of financial resources or physical or mental disabilities to provide for his
basic needs for shelter, food, clothing and health care, the agency may
(1) immediately provide care to the extent the person is not taken into
custody or removed from his home or (2) petition the court for a
temporary order authorizing the agency to take custody of and provide
care for such person until suitable permanent arrangements can be made
which will insure the protection of the health and safety of the person
concerned. Upon a determination of the court that such agency care is
urgently and immediately necessary and upon appropriate order of the
court, the agency shall be authorized to assume custody and place such
person in a foster home, boarding home, nursing home or other similar
facility for a period not to exceed ninety days. At the proceeding to
obtain the necessary order, any relative or other interested person may
appear to oppose or join in the petition of the agency, but notice to such
relative or interested person is not required. During the period of agency
custody, all resources of the social service agency shall be utilized to
provide a permanent suitable environment for the persons concerned.
Before expiration of the ninety day period, a proper hearing shall be
held, as per Section 43-29-30 to determine if further care is
required."
(8) Section 43-29-90 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-29-90. The State Department of Social
Services Director of the Department of Children's and Family
Services or his designee shall promulgate regulations to provide
procedures for county departments of Social children's and
family services in the exercise of their duties and responsibilities
under this chapter."
(9) Section 12-21-3441 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 12-21-3441. In addition to the bingo taxes levied
under the provisions of Section 12-21-3440(B) of the 1976 Code, and
beginning July 1, 1991, an additional one dollar is levied for each bingo
player a session for sessions conducted by holders of a Class AA license
and an additional fifty cents is levied for each bingo player a session for
sessions conducted by holders of a Class B license each fiscal year.
Nine hundred forty-eight thousand dollars of the total revenues received
from bingo taxes as provided by Section 12-21-3440 and collected by
the Tax Commission must be deposited monthly in equal amounts into
an account in the office of the State Treasurer and called
"Commission on Aging Division of Aging Programs
and Adult Services Senior Citizen Centers Permanent Improvement
Fund" (Fund). All interest earned on monies in the fund must be
credited to the fund. The remaining revenues if any, generated by the
bingo taxes must be deposited as provided in Section 12-21-3590."
(10) Section 12-21-3590(C) of the 1976 is amended to read:
"(C) Twelve and one-half percent of the annual revenue
derived from the provisions of this article which is collected from bingo
within the State must be deposited with the State Treasurer to be
credited to the account of the South Carolina Commission on
Aging Division of Agency Programs and Adult Services.
This amount must be allocated to each county for distribution in home
community services for the elderly as follows:
(1) One-half of the funds must be divided equally among the
forty-six counties.
(2) The remaining one-half must be divided based on the
percentage of the county's population age sixty and above in relation to
the total state population using the latest report of the United States
Bureau of the Census.
(3) The aging service providers receiving these funds must be
agencies recognized by the South Carolina Commission on
Aging Division of Aging Programs and Adult Services and
the Area Agencies on Aging. Section 12-21-3600. A promoter of a
bingo game who pays a winner a prize valued at one thousand dollars or
more shall record the name, address, and social security number of the
winner and the value of the prize he received and shall report the
information to the Tax Commission quarterly."
(11) Section 43-38-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-38-20. The ombudsman of the office of the
Governor Division of Aging Programs and Adult Services
is authorized to investigate any problem or complaint on behalf of any
interested party or any client, patient, or resident of any facility as
defined in this chapter. In carrying out the investigation, he
the division may request and receive written statements,
documents, exhibits, and other items pertinent to the investigation.
These items include medical records of a general hospital in which a
client, patient, or resident has been treated during the period under
investigation. General hospitals are authorized to release the medical
records to the ombudsman division upon his
written request without the necessity of patient authorization. Any files
maintained by the ombudsman program shall division
must be disclosed only at the discretion of the ombudsman
having authority over the disposition of such files deputy
director, except that the identity, disease, or illness of any
complainant or resident of a long-term care facility shall not be disclosed
by such ombudsman the deputy director unless:
(i) such complainant or resident, or his legal representative,
consents in writing to such disclosure; or
(ii) such disclosure is required by court order. Following the
investigation he the deputy director may issue such
report and recommendations as in his the deputy
director's opinion will assist in improving the facility under
investigation."
(12) Section 43-38-30 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-38-30. All departments, officers,
agencies, and employees of the State shall cooperate with the
ombudsman Division of Adult Programs and Aging
Services in carrying out his duties pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter."
SECTION 4. Division of Children's Services
(1) Section 20-7-30 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding at the
end:
"(10) `Division of Children Services' means the Division of
Children's Services in the Department of Children's and Family
Services."
(2) Section 20-7-340(E) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(E) This section does not apply to persons having custody or
charge of a minor under the authority of a state agency or a county
social services department of children's and family
services or to state agencies or county departments of social
children's and family services which have legal custody or
charge of a minor."
(3) Section 20-7-490(I) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(I) "Protective Services Unit" means the unit
established within the Department of Social Division of
Children's Services which shall have prime responsibility for state
efforts to strengthen and improve the prevention, identification and
treatment of child abuse and neglect."
(4) Section 20-7-490(O) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(O) "Local child protective service agency"
means the agency or department of Social children's and
family services in a county or contiguous counties having prime
responsibility for local efforts to strengthen and improve the prevention,
identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect."
(5) Section 20-7-490(R) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(R) "Affirmative determination" means a finding
that more likely than not the child was abused or neglected by the person
who is alleged or determined to have abused or neglected the child and
who is mentioned by name in a report or finding. This finding may be
made only by:
(1) the court;
(2) the Department of Social Children's and Family
Services upon a final agency decision in its appeals process; or
(3) waiver by the subject of the report of his right to appeal. If an
affirmative determination is made by the court after an affirmative
determination is made by the Department of Social
Children's and Family Services, the court's finding shall be the
affirmative determination."
(6) Section 20-7-510(C) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(C) Reports of child abuse or neglect made pursuant to this
section may be made orally, by telephone or otherwise to the county
department of social children's and family services, or
in the alternative, to a law enforcement agency in the county where the
child resides or is found.
(1) Where reports are made pursuant to this section to a law
enforcement agency, it shall notify the county department of
social children's and family services of its response to
the report at the earliest possible time.
(2) Where a county or contiguous counties have established local
child protective services, pursuant to Section 20-7-650, county
departments of social children's and family services
shall immediately transfer reports pursuant to this section to the
service."
(7) Section 20-7-520 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-520. Any person required under subsection (A)
of Section 20-7-510 to report cases of suspected child abuse or neglect,
including workers of the local child protective service agency, who has
reason to believe that a child has died as result of child abuse or neglect,
shall report that fact to the appropriate medical examiner or coroner.
Any other person who has reason to believe that a child has died as a
result of child abuse or neglect may report that fact to the appropriate
medical examiner or coroner. The medical examiner or coroner shall
accept the report for investigation and shall report his findings to the
appropriate law enforcement agency, circuit solicitor's office, the local
child protective service agency or county department of social
children's and family services and, if the institution making a
report is a hospital, to the hospital."
(8) Section 20-7-530 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-530. Any person required to report under
Section 20-7-510 may take, or cause to be taken color photographs of
the areas of trauma visible on a child who is the subject of a report and,
if medically indicated, cause to be performed a radiological examination
of the child without the consent of the child's parents or guardians. All
photographs, negatives, and copies of them shall be sent to the
appropriate local child protective service agency or county department
of social children's and family services at the time a
report pursuant to Section 20-7-510 is made, or as soon thereafter as
possible."
(9) Section 20-7-610(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-610. (B) Where a child's parent, parents, or
guardian has been arrested or the child has become lost accidentally and
as a result the child's welfare is threatened due to loss of adult protection
and supervision, the child may be taken into protective custody pursuant
to this section if:
(1) In the circumstance of arrest, the parent, parents, or guardian
does not consent in writing within twenty-four hours to another person
assuming physical custody of the child;
(2) In the circumstance of a lost child, a search by law
enforcement has not located the parent, parents, or guardian within
twenty-four hours. No placement with a parent, an immediate family
member, a guardian, or a relative is required under this subsection where
the law enforcement officer believes in good faith that the placement
would expose the child to harm as defined in Section 20-7-490(C) or if
the individual cannot or will not take placement of the child within
twenty-four hours. Where a child is held awaiting placement for up to
twenty-four hours under this subsection, the local
county department of social children's and
family services shall provide up to twenty-four hours of shelter for
the child in a licensed foster home or shelter. While the child is under
care for this twenty-four hour period in a designated foster home the
local county department of social children's
and family services may provide for the routine needs of the child.
Upon expiration of the twenty-four hour period during which the child
awaits placement and where there is no alternative placement
determined by law enforcement to be available under this subsection, the
law enforcement officer shall take protective custody of the child as a
dependent child or as a suspected abused and neglected child and shall
comply with all other provisions of this section. Law enforcement and
the South Carolina Department of Social Division of
Children's Services jointly shall develop uniform procedures to
ensure the orderly implementation of the requirements of this subsection,
and those procedures must be submitted to the joint legislative
committee on children within sixty days of this subsection's effective
date."
(10) Section 20-7-640 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-640. (A) The Department of Social
Division of Children's Services may maintain a toll-free number
available to persons throughout the State for the referral of
family-related problems, including:
(1) The reporting of known or suspected cases of child abuse or
neglect.
(2) Other problems of a nature which may affect the stability of
family life.
Such telephone service shall operate continuously:
Upon receipt of a call involving suspected abuse or neglect, the
Department of Social Services division shall transmit
the full contents of the report to the appropriate local child protective
service agency. Immediately upon transmitting the report the
Department of Social Services division shall destroy the
contents of the suspected report.
Upon receipt of a call involving other problems, of a nature which
may affect the stability of family life, the Department of Social
Services division shall refer the call to the appropriate local
child protective service agency or other service agency where
appropriate.
(B) The Department of Social Services division
shall have within it a separate organizational unit administered within
the Department division with qualified staff and
resources sufficient to fulfill the purposes and functions assigned to it by
this article.
(C) State Department of Social Services Division
responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to: assigning and
monitoring initial child protection responsibility through periodic review
of services offered throughout the State; assisting in the diagnosis of
child abuse and neglect; coordinating referrals of known or suspected
child abuse and neglect; measuring the effectiveness of existing child
protection programs and facilitating research, planning and program
development; and establishing and monitoring a statewide central
registry for child abuse and neglect as hereinafter provided.
(D) The county department of Social children's and
family services in each county is designated as the Child Protective
Service Agency, whose duties are set forth in Section 20-7-650. The
county in which the child resides shall be the legal place of venue;
provided, that in conjunction with the powers enumerated in this section,
each county Board director of Social
children's and family services shall appoint an advisory board
to be composed of resident professionals in the county in which the child
resides in the fields of medicine, including nurses, education, health,
social workers, members of the clergy and law enforcement officials, if
available for the purpose of determining the course of protective action
to be taken by the county department of Social children's and
family services. These recommendations are to be deemed advisory
only. These appointments to the advisory board shall be made in a
nondiscriminatory manner.
(E) The State Department of Social Director of the
Department of Children's and Family Services or his
designee may adopt all necessary rules and regulations and
formulate policies and methods of administration to carry out effectively
child protective services, activities, and responsibilities."
(11) Section 20-7-650(P) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(P) The agency in all instances shall act in accordance with
the policies, procedures, and regulations promulgated and distributed by
the State Department of Social Director of the Department
of Children's and Family Services or his designee pursuant
to this chapter."
(12) Section 20-7-655(A), (B), and (H) of the 1976 Code are
amended to read:
"Section 20-7-655. (A) The Department of Social
Division of Children's Services shall provide a child protective
services appeals process for review of indicated reports not otherwise
being brought before the family court for disposition. The appeals
hearing shall be scheduled and conducted in accordance with the
department's Department of Children's and Family
Services fair hearing regulations.
(B) The commissioner Director of the Department of
Children's and Family Services or his designee shall appoint a child
protective services appeals committee for each case decision which is
appealed. The committee must be comprised of three officials or
employees of the Department of Social Division of
Children's Services or of a county department of children's and
family services, none of whom may be a resident of or employed by
the local child protective services agency in the county where the case
originates or a member of the investigative unit which investigated the
case if the case decision being appealed involves institutional abuse.
(H) When the appeals procedure is used for institutional abuse cases
investigated by the Department of Social Division of
Children's Services, the investigative unit of the Department of
Social Services division shall be substituted for the local
child protective services agency for purposes of all notices and the case
documentation review."
(13) Section 20-7-660 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-660. (A) The Department of Social
Division of Children's Services' Protective Services
Unit and the local child protective services agencies shall, on
a continuing basis, inform all persons required to report under this article
of the nature, problem and extent of child abuse and neglect and of their
duties and responsibilities in accordance with this article. The
Department of Social Services division and local
agencies shall also, on a continuing basis, conduct training programs for
local agency staffs as well as appropriate training for persons required
to report under this article.
(B) The Department of Social Services Division of
Children's Services' Protective Services Unit and the local
child protective services agencies shall, on a continuing basis, inform the
public of the nature, problem and extent of the child abuse and neglect
and of the remedial and therapeutic services available to children and
their families. The Department of Social Services
division and the local agencies shall also encourage families to
seek help consistent with Section 20-7-500.
(C) The Department of Social Services division's
Protective Services Unit and the local child protective services
agencies shall, on a continuing basis, actively publicize the appropriate
telephone numbers to receive reports of suspected child abuse and
neglect, including the twenty-four hour, statewide, toll-free telephone
service and respective numbers of the local child protective services
agencies."
(14) Section 20-7-670 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-670. (A) The Department of Social
Services Child division's Protective Services Unit
is empowered to receive and investigate reports of institutional abuse
and neglect and the Director of the Department of Children's and
Family Services or his designee shall promulgate regulations
consistent with this authority to investigate the reports and take remedial
action, if necessary. In no case does the Department of Social
Services division have responsibility for investigating
allegations of abuse and neglect in institutions operated by the
Department of Social Services division. The
Department of Social Services division shall take
whatever steps it considers necessary to inform potential reporters of
institutional abuse and neglect of its responsibilities under this section.
(B) Subject to the provisions of subsection (A), the State Law
Enforcement Division is empowered to receive and investigate reports
of institutional abuse and neglect alleged to have occurred in any
institution operated by the Department of Social Children's
and Family Services and may promulgate regulations consistent
with this authority to investigate the reports and take remedial action, if
necessary. The agency shall take whatever steps it considers necessary
to inform potential reporters of institutional abuse and neglect of its
responsibilities under this section.
(C) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (A) nor any other
provision of this article, the Department of Social Services
division may not investigate any allegation of abuse or neglect
of a child where the child is in the custody of or a resident of a public or
private health facility, institution, or agency licensed by the Department
of Health and Environmental Control or operated by the
Department of Mental Health. All of these allegations of abuse and
neglect must be investigated by the ombudsman of the office of the
Governor pursuant to Sections 43-30-10 through 43-30-100 and Sections
43-38-10 through 43-38-50."
(15) Section 20-7-680(B), (C), and (D) of the 1976 Code is
amended to read:
"(B) The State Department of Social Division of
Children's Services shall maintain a Central Registry of Child
Abuse and Neglect within the Department of Social Services
child division's Protective Services Unit. The registry shall
receive and maintain reports of child abuse and neglect from local child
protective service agencies, and it shall release information to persons
and agencies only as authorized by Section 20-7-690. Reports of child
abuse and neglect must be maintained on the registry in one of four
categories: Suspected, Unfounded, Indicated, or Affirmative
Determination. All initial reports shall be deemed suspected. Reports
of suspected child abuse and neglect must be maintained on the registry
for no more than sixty days after the report was received by the agency.
On or before the expiration of that time, they must be converted into
either unfounded or indicated reports, pursuant to the agency's
investigation. Upon an affirmative determination, indicated reports must
be converted to the category of "affirmative determination".
(1) Indicated reports and affirmative determinations may be
maintained on the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect only
when accompanied by a description of the services being provided the
child and those responsible for his welfare, as well as all relevant
dispositional information.
(2) Unfounded reports must be classified "Unfounded by
reason of insufficient evidence".
(3) If no finding has been made by the agency after sixty days
from the date a report was received, the report must be classified
"Unfounded for want of an investigation".
(C) Local child protective service agencies shall transmit
immediately any data required by the Department of Social
Services division for purposes of statistical analysis and
data gathering, subject to the limitations imposed on identifying
characteristics contained in subsections (F) and (G) of Section 20-7-650.
(D) The Department of Social Services division shall furnish
annually to the Governor and the General Assembly a report on the
incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect in South Carolina,
the effectiveness of services provided throughout the State to protect
children from such harm, and any other data deemed instructive."
(16) Section 20-7-690 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-690. (A) All reports made and information
collected pursuant to this article maintained by the State Department
of Social Division of Children's Services, local child
protective service agencies, and the Central Registry of Child Abuse and
Neglect are confidential. Any person who disseminates or permits the
unauthorized dissemination of the information is guilty of a
misdemeanor and upon conviction must be fined not more than five
hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.
(B) All reports made and information collected as described in
subsection (A) must be made available to the ombudsman of the office
of the Governor and to any person appointed as a child's guardian ad
litem and the child's attorney pursuant to Section 20-7-110.
(C) Information contained in reports described in subsection (A)
must not be made available to any individual or institution except:
(1) appropriate staff of the State Department of Social
Services division, local child protective services agencies,
any person or agency having legal responsibility or authorization to care
for, treat, or supervise the child or the child's family, multidisciplinary
evaluation teams empaneled by the agencies, and law enforcement
agencies investigating suspected cases of abuse and neglect;
(2) any person who is the subject of a report or that person's
attorney, subject to the qualifications provided in subsection (D);
(3) family courts conducting child abuse and neglect or child
protective proceedings;
(4) any person engaged in a bona fide research purpose, with
written permission of and with any limitations imposed by the
Commissioner of the State Department of Social Services
Director of the Department of Children's and Family Services or his
designee;
(5) [Deleted]
(D) Any person who is the subject of a report made pursuant to this
article must be immediately notified of the fact that his name has been
recorded by the State Department of Social Services
division, the local child protective services agency and, if
applicable, the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect. He must
also be informed of the findings of the investigation and whether or not
his name has been destroyed in accordance with this article. Any person
who is the subject of a report must be informed of his right to inspect the
report and any substantiating data or evidence and his right to challenge
any part of its contents. The only details of the report which must be
withheld from the subject's knowledge or inspection are the name,
address, occupation, and all other identifying characteristics of the
reporter.
(E) For the purpose of this section, "any person who is the
subject of a report" means any person who is alleged or
determined to have abused or neglected the child, who is mentioned by
name in a report or finding.
(F) All reports made available to persons pursuant to this section
must indicate whether or not an appeal is pending on the report pursuant
to Section 20-7-655."
(17) The first undesignated paragraph of Section 20-7-1440 of the
1976 Code is amended to read:
"In delinquency, dependency, and neglect actions, no court fee
may be charged against, and no witness fee is allowed to a party to a
petition. No officer of this State or of a political subdivision of this
State may receive a fee for the service of process or for attendance in
court in the proceeding, except that in divorce proceedings the officer is
allowed the fee provided by law and except when the sheriff or clerk of
court has entered into a cooperative agreement with the South
Carolina Department of Social Children's and
Family Services, Division of Economic Services, Office of
Child Support pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act for
the reimbursement of federal matching funds. All other persons acting
under orders of the court may be paid for services or service of process
the fees provided by law for like services in cases before the circuit
court, to be paid from the appropriation provided when the allowances
are certified to by the judge."
(18) Section 20-7-1645 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1645. A state agency which places a child in a
foster home may compensate a foster family, who has made its private
residence available as a foster home, for the uninsured loss it incurs
when its personal or real property is damaged, destroyed, or stolen by a
child placed in its home, if the loss is found by the
Commissioner director of the placing state agency, or
his designee, to have occurred, to have been caused solely or primarily
by the acts of the child placed with the foster family, and if the acts of
the foster family have not in any way caused or contributed to the loss.
Compensation may not be in excess of the actual cost of repair or
replacement of the damaged or destroyed property but in no case may
compensation exceed five hundred dollars for each occurrence."
(19) Section 20-7-1650(e) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(e) "Child placing agency" or
"agency" means the State Department of
Social Children's and Family Services, Division of
Children's Services, and any person or entity which is licensed
pursuant to Sections 20-7-2230 through 20-7-2290 which receives
children for placement for adoption. A person who facilitates the
placement of a child for the purpose of adoption who otherwise is not
required to be licensed pursuant to Sections 20-7-2230 through
20-7-2290 is not required to be licensed in order to act in this
capacity."
(20) Section 20-7-1705(A)(3) of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"(3) a person certified by the State Department of
Social, Division of Children's Services, pursuant to Section
20-7-1750, to obtain consents or relinquishments;"
(21) Section 20-7-1750 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1750. With the exception of the persons
provided for in Section 20-7-1705(A)(1), (2), and (4), any person
obtaining a consent or relinquishment for the purpose of adoption must
be certified by the State Department of Social Division of
Children's Services. Any person conducting an investigation for the
adoption of a child pursuant to Section 20-7-1740 also must be certified
by the department division. However, where the
adoption petitioner or prospective adoption petitioner is a nonresident
of this State, a South Carolina family court may authorize a qualified
nonresident to conduct any investigations required under Section
20-7-1740. The department Director of the Department of
Children's and Family Services or his designee shall promulgate
regulations to provide for the following: certification of investigators;
issuance, monitoring, and revocation of certificates; and sanctioning of
noncompliance with regulations. Any person certified by the
department division may charge a fee which may not
exceed the reasonable costs of the services rendered. The fee must be
approved by the department division during the
certification process. The department division shall
develop, revise, and publish quarterly a directory of persons certified
pursuant to this section. A reasonable fee may be charged by the
department division for copies of this directory."
(22) Section 20-7-1780(C) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(C) All files and records pertaining to the adoption
proceedings in the State Department of Social Division of
Children's Services, or in any authorized agency, or maintained by
any person certified by the department division under
the provisions of Section 20-7-1750, are confidential and must be
withheld from inspection except upon court order for good cause
shown."
(23) Section 20-7-1895 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1895. (A) The State Department of
Social Division of Children's Services shall establish, either
directly or through purchase of services, a statewide adoption exchange
with a photograph listing component.
(B) The adoption exchange must be available to serve all authorized,
licensed child-placing agencies in the State as a means of recruiting
adoptive families for any child who meets one or more of the following
criteria:
(1) The child is legally free for adoption.
(2) The child has been permanently committed to the
department division or to a licensed child-placing
agency.
(3) The court system requires identification of an adoptive family
for the child before ties to the biological parents are severed.
(4) The department division has identified
adoption as the child's treatment plan.
(C) The department division shall register with the
adoption exchange each child in its care who meets any one or more of
the above criteria and for whom no adoptive family has been identified.
This registration must be made at least thirty days from the
determination date of the child's adoptable status and updated at least
monthly.
(D) If an adoption plan has not been made within at least three
months from the determination date of the child's adoptable status, the
department division shall provide the adoption
exchange with a photograph, description of the child, and any other
necessary information for the purpose of recruitment of an adoptive
family for the child, including registration with the photograph listing
component of the exchange which must be updated monthly. The
department division shall establish criteria by which a
determination may be made that recruitment or photograph listing is not
required for a child. The department division also shall
establish procedures for monitoring the status of children for whom that
determination is made.
(E) In accordance with guidelines established by the
department division, the adoption exchange may accept
from licensed child-placing agencies, referrals and registration for
recruitment and photograph listing of children meeting the criteria of
this section.
(F) The department division shall refer appropriate
children to regional and national exchanges when an adoptive family has
not been identified within one hundred eighty days of the determination
of the child's adoptable status. The department division
shall establish criteria by which a determination may be made that a
referral to regional or national exchanges is not necessary, and the
department division shall monitor the status of those
children not referred. Only a "special needs child", as
defined in Section 20-7-1650(j), may be referred under the provisions of
this subsection.
(G) The department division shall provide
orientation and training to appropriate staff regarding the adoption
exchange procedures and utilization of the photograph listing
component."
(24) Section 20-7-1897 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1897. The Adoption and Birth Parent Services
Program within the South Carolina Department of Social
Division of Children's Services is the only public adoption
program in South Carolina."
(25) Section 20-7-1900 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1900. The purpose of this subarticle is to
supplement the South Carolina adoption law by making possible through
public supplemental benefits the most appropriate adoption of each child
certified by the Department of Social Division of
Children's Services as requiring a supplemental benefit to assure
adoption."
(26) Section 20-7-1920 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1920. As used in this article:
(1) "Child" means an individual up to twenty-one
years of age;
(2) "Supplemental benefits" means payments made
by the State Department of Social Children's and
Family Services to provide services, including medical subsidies for
payment for treatment pursuant to Section 20-7-1955, for children who
without these services may not have been adopted;
(3) `Department Division' means the Department
of Social Children's and Family Services, Division
of Children's Services."
(27) Section 20-7-1925 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1925. In order for a child to be eligible for
supplemental benefits the department division shall
determine that the child legally is free for adoption, the child has been
placed for adoption by the department division, and one
of the following provisions applies to the child:
(1) is a special needs child pursuant to Section 20-7-1650(j);
(2) is at high risk of developing a physical, mental, or emotional
disability;
(3) is one for whom other factors, as determined by the
department division, interfere with the child's ability to
be placed for adoption;
(4) has established significant emotional ties with prospective
adoptive parents while in their care as a foster child, and it is considered
by the agency to be in the best interest of the child to be adopted by the
foster parents."
(28) Section 20-7-1930 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1930. The department division
shall establish and administer an ongoing program of supplemental
benefits for adoption. Supplemental benefits and services for children
under this program must be provided out of funds appropriated to the
department division for these purposes."
(29) Section 20-7-1940 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1940. A child meeting criteria specified in
Section 20-7-1925 for whom the department division
believes supplemental benefits are necessary to improve opportunities
for adoption is eligible for the program. The agency shall document that
reasonable efforts have been made to place the child in adoption without
supplemental benefits through the use of adoption resource exchanges,
recruitment, and referral to appropriate specialized adoption
agencies."
(30) Section 20-7-1950(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(A) When the department division
determines that a child is eligible for supplemental benefits, a written
agreement must be executed between the parents and the
department."
(31) Section 20-7-1958 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1958. At the time of placement for adoption, the
department division shall inform in writing the
prospective adoptive parents of the:
(1) availability of supplemental benefits;
(2) conditions for which the supplemental benefits are available;
(3) procedure for application for supplemental benefits."
(32) Section 20-7-1960 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1960. A decision concerning supplemental
benefits by the department division which the adoptive
parents consider adverse to the child is reviewable according to
department regulations."
(33) Section 20-7-1970 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1970. The department Director of
the Department of Children's and Family Services or his designee
shall promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of this
subarticle."
(34) Section 20-7-2000 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2000. The "appropriate public
authorities" as used in subsection 3 of the Interstate Compact on
the Placement of Children, with reference to this State, means the
South Carolina Department of Social Children's and
Family Services, Division of Children's Services for
adoptive and foster care purposes. The department
division shall receive and act with reference to notices required
by subsection 3."
(35) Section 20-7-2010 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2010. As used in item (a) of subsection 5 of the
Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, "appropriate
authority in the receiving state" with reference to this State means
the Department of Social Children's and Family
Services, Division of Children's Services as the compact
administrator."
(36) Section 20-7-2020 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2020. The officers and agencies of this State
and its subdivisions having authority to place children are empowered
to enter into agreements with appropriate officers or agencies of or in
other party states pursuant to item (b) of subsection 5 of the Interstate
Compact on the Placement of Children. Any agreement which contains
a financial commitment or imposes a financial obligation of this State or
subdivision or agency of it is not binding unless it has the approval in
writing of the State Treasurer in the case of the State and of the
Commissioner director of the Department of
Social Children's and Family Services in the case of a
subdivision of the State, as their respective functions and duties may
appear and be appropriate pursuant to this subarticle."
(37) Section 20-7-2060 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2060. As used in subsection 7 of the Interstate
Compact on the Placement of Children, "executive head"
means the Governor. The Governor is authorized to designate the
Department of Social Children's and Family
Services, Division of Children's Services as the compact
administrator in accordance with the terms of subsection 7."
(38) Section 20-7-2070 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2070. The Department of Social
Services Director of the Department of Children's and Family
Services or his designee shall promulgate procedures to govern all
aspects of interstate adoptive and interstate foster care
placements."
(39) Section 20-7-2240 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2240. The provisions of this subarticle shall not
apply to:
(1) Child welfare agencies existing on March 9, 1956, and operating
under the active supervision of a governing board representing an
established religious denomination, except as these agencies voluntarily
assume the obligations and acquire the rights provided by this subarticle.
(2) The State Children's Bureau.
(3)(2) Any children's home or institution to which
State funds are appropriated.
(4)(3) The John de la Howe School in McCormick
County; provided, that the board of trustees of that school may
elect to be licensed by the Department, in which case the board of
trustees school shall request, by resolution, the
Department division to license the John de la Howe
School. When a license has been issued to the John de la Howe School
by the Department division, pursuant to the terms of this
subarticle, the school shall be bound by all rules and regulations
promulgated by the Department Director of the Department
of Children's and Family Services or his designee relating to
licensing standards and other matters pertaining thereto.
(5)(4) Rescue missions, or other similar charitable
institutions, organized before May 8, 1959, for the purpose of providing
temporary care and custody of children and other needy persons and
operating under a local board of trustees pursuant to and duly authorized
by law."
(40) Section 20-7-2250 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2250. The Department Director of
the Department of Children's and Family Services or his designee
shall administer the provisions of this subarticle and shall make and
promulgate such rules and regulations relating to licensing standards and
other matters as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this
subarticle."
(41) Section 20-7-2260 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2260. The Department division
may revoke the license of any child welfare agency which fails to
maintain the proper standards of care and service to children in its
charge or which violates any provision of this subarticle. No license
shall be revoked or its renewal refused except upon thirty days' written
notice thereof. Upon appeal from such revocation or refusal to renew a
license, the Department shall, after thirty days' written notice thereof,
hold a hearing, at which time the agency shall be given an opportunity
to present testimony and confront witnesses. An appeal of the
agency's decision may be made to an administrative law judge pursuant
to the Administrative Procedures Act."
(42) Section 20-7-2270 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2270. A licensed child welfare agency may
place children in family homes for care, if authorized to do so by the
Department division. Any child so placed may be taken
from such family home when the child welfare agency responsible for
his care is satisfied that the child's welfare requires such action."
(43) Section 20-7-2280 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2280. No officer, agent or employee of the
Department division or a child welfare agency shall
directly or indirectly disclose information learned about the children,
their parents or relatives or other persons having custody or control of
them."
(44) Section 20-7-2290 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2290. Any person and any officer, agent or
employee of the Department division or of a child
welfare agency who violates any of the provisions of this subarticle, or
who shall intentionally make any false statement to the
Department division shall, upon conviction thereof, be
punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or by
imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and
imprisonment, in the discretion of the court."
(45) Section 20-7-2307 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2307. The department division
shall take all actions necessary to achieve accreditation of its adoption
program by a nationally recognized accreditation organization, such as
the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children, as
soon as practicable."
(46) Section 20-7-2310 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2310. The Department of Social
Children's and Family Services, Division of Children's
Services shall administer an adoption program on behalf of the
State. Adoption services must be available statewide. The adoption
program provided by the department division must be
a centrally administered state program. The department
Director of the Department of Children's and Family Services or his
designee shall designate regions which will be administered by the
state office. The adoption unit shall constitute a separate and distinct
unit within the department division so as to assure
specialization of effort and effective access to the commissioner
department director. This unit must be staffed with qualified
personnel professionally trained in the social work or other related
fields. The department division shall continually
evaluate its staffing, functions, policies, and practices on the basis of
nationally recognized standards. A committee to advise the
department The Director of the Department of Children's and
Family Services or his designee must appoint a committee to advise the
division on all children's services must be appointed by the State
Board of Social Services. Persons appointed to the committee must
be knowledgeable on adoption, protective services, foster care, and other
children's services."
(47) Section 20-7-2323 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2323. The Department of Social
Services division, before it may accept as a client a parent
or parents, or prospective parent or parents who wish to relinquish their
child for adoption, must first provide them with an informational
brochure which outlines the services available from and the procedure
used to select adoptive parents by the Department
division and by the licensed private adoption agencies in this
State. It must also contain a listing of the licensed private adoption
agencies in this State. The information contained in the brochure
relating to the private adoption agencies must be jointly authored by the
private adoption agencies and furnished to the Department
division. The Department division may not
accept the above persons as clients until a period of forty-eight hours has
elapsed from the time they are furnished this brochure, and the
Department division upon accepting these persons as
clients must have them sign an affirmative statement that they have
received this brochure and this statement must be kept in the adoption
file maintained by the Department division."
(48) Section 20-7-2340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2340. The department division
shall establish fees for certain adoption and related services. The fees
must be charged on a scale related to income as established by the
state board division, but the inability to pay a fee does
not preclude the providing of any service. A fee may not be charged for
the placement of a child with special needs, as defined by the South
Carolina Adoption Act of 1986, into an adoptive home. Fees collected
under this section must be forwarded to the State Treasurer who shall
hold them in a separate account. These funds may be expended only as
provided for by the General Assembly. Of the funds authorized to be
expended, not less than seventy-five percent must be used for the sole
purpose of paying for the medical and maternity home expenses incurred
by clients (1) who are pregnant, (2) who have requested the services of
the Department of Social Services division in planning
for permanence for their child, and (3) for whom other public or private
funds are not available, and the remainder of the funds may be used to
defray other operating expenses related to adoption service
delivery."
(49) Section 20-7-2610(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2610. (A) The State Department of
Social Children's and Family Services, Division of
Children's Services may develop, participate in the development of,
negotiate, and enter into one or more interstate compacts on behalf of
this State with other states to implement one or more of the purposes set
forth in this subarticle. The compact has the effect of law."
(50) Section 20-7-2640 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2640. (A) A child with special needs who is a
resident in the State who is the subject of an adoption assistance
agreement with another state may receive medical assistance
identification from this State upon the filing with the Department of
Social Division of Children's Services of a certified copy
of the agreement obtained from the adoption assistance state. In
accordance with regulations of the department division,
the adoptive parents at least annually shall show that the agreement is
still in force or has been renewed.
(B) The State Health and Human Services Finance Commission shall
consider the holder of medical assistance identification pursuant to this
section as any other holder of medical assistance identification under the
laws of this State and shall process and make payment on claims on
account of the holder in the same manner and pursuant to the same
conditions and procedures as for other recipients of medical assistance.
(C) The Health and Human Services Finance Commission or the
Department of Social Division of Children's Services
shall provide coverage and benefits for a child who is in another state
and who is covered by an adoption assistance agreement made by the
department division for the coverage or benefits, if any,
not provided by the residence state. To this end, the adoptive parents
acting for the child may submit evidence of payment for services or
benefit amounts not payable in the residence state and must be
reimbursed for them. However, there is no reimbursement for services
or benefit amounts covered under insurance or other third party medical
contract or arrangement held by the child or the adoptive parents. The
department shall promulgate regulations implementing this subsection.
The additional coverages and benefit amounts provided pursuant to this
subsection are for the costs of services for which there is no federal
contribution, or which, if federally aided, are not provided by the
residence state. The regulations must include, but are not limited to,
procedures to be followed in obtaining prior approval for services in
those instances where required for the assistance.
(D) The provisions of this section apply only to medical assistance
for children under adoption assistance agreements from states that have
entered into a compact with this State under which the other state
provides medical assistance to children with special needs under
adoption assistance agreements made by this State. All other children
entitled to medical assistance pursuant to adoption assistance agreements
entered into by this State are eligible to receive assistance in accordance
with the laws and procedures applicable to the agreements."
(51) Section 20-7-2650 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2650. Consistent with federal law, the
Department of Social Division of Children's Services in
connection with the administration of this subarticle and a compact
pursuant to it must include in a state plan made pursuant to the Adoption
Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, Public Law 96-272, Titles IV
(e) and XIX of the Social Security Act, and other applicable federal
laws, the provision of adoption assistance and medical assistance for
which the federal government pays some or all of the cost. The
department division shall apply for and administer all
relevant federal aid in accordance with the law."
(52) Section 20-7-2700 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2700. For the purpose of this subarticle:
k. "Department Division" means the
State Department of Social Children's and
Family Services, Division of Children's Services the
agency designated to administer the regulation of child day care
facilities under subarticle, with the advice of the State Advisory
Committee on the Regulation of Child Day Care Facilities.
l. "Committee" means the State Advisory Committee on
the Regulation of Child Day Care Facilities, named under this subarticle
to advise the department division on regulatory matters
related to child day care facilities.
m. "Commissioner Director" means the
administrative head of the Department of Children's and Family
Services.
p. "Regular license" means a license issued by the
department division for two years to an operator of a
private child day care center or group day care home or a family day
care home which elects to be licensed showing that the licensee is in
compliance with the provisions of this subarticle and the regulations of
the department division at the time of issuance and
authorizing the licensee to operate in accordance with the license, this
subarticle, and the regulations of the department
division.
q. "Provisional license" means a license issued by the
department division to an operator of a private child day
care center or group day care home or a family day care home which
elects to be licensed authorizing the licensee to begin operations
although the licensee temporarily is unable to comply with all of the
requirements for a license.
r. "Regular approval" means a written notice issued by
the department division for a two-year period to a
department, division agency or institution of the State, or a
county, city or other political subdivision, approving the operation of a
public child day care center or group day care home in accordance with
the provisions of the notice, this subarticle and the regulations of the
department division.
s. "Provisional approval" means a written notice issued
by the department division to a department,
agency, or institution of the State, or a county, city or other
political subdivision approving the commencement the operations of a
public child day care center or group day care home although the
operator is temporarily unable to comply with all of the requirements for
approval.
u. "Declaratory order" means a written statement on the
part of the department division approving plans for
construction or renovation insuring against the imposition of more
stringent regulations at a later date.
x. "Deficiency correction notice" means a written
statement on the part of the department division
notifying a child day care facility which is not complying with any
applicable regulations to correct the deficiencies stated in the notice
within a reasonable time limit."
(53) Section 20-7-2710(c) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2710. c. Nothing in this subarticle shall create
authority for the Department of Social Services division
to influence or regulate the curriculum of child day care facilities."
(54) Section 20-7-2720 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2720. No person, corporation, partnership,
voluntary association or other organization may operate a private child
day care center or group day care home unless licensed to do so by the
department division."
(55) Section 20-7-2730 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2730. a. Application for license must be made
on forms supplied by the department division and in the
manner it prescribes.
b. Before issuing a license the department division
shall conduct an investigation of the applicant and the proposed plan of
care for children and for operating a private child day care center or
group day care home. If the results of the investigation verify that the
provisions of this subarticle and the applicable regulations promulgated
by the department are satisfied, a license must be issued. The applicant
shall cooperate with the investigation and related inspections by
providing access to the physical plant, records, excluding financial
records, and staff. Failure to comply with the regulations promulgated
by the department within the time period specified in this subarticle,
provided that adequate notification of deficiencies has been made, is a
ground for denial of application. The investigation and inspections may
involve consideration of any facts, conditions, or circumstances relevant
to the operation of the child day care center or group day care home,
including references and other information about the character and
quality of the personnel.
c. Each license must be conditioned by stating clearly the name and
address of the licensee, the address of the child day care center or group
day care home, and the number of children who may be served.
d. Failure of the department division, except as
provided in Section 20-7-3070, to approve or deny an application within
ninety days shall result in the granting of a provisional license. No
license may be issued to an operator who has been convicted of a crime
listed in Chapter 3 of Title 16, Offenses Against the Person, a crime
listed in Chapter 15 of Title 16, Offenses Against Morality and Decency,
and for the crime of contributing to the delinquency of a minor,
contained in Section 16-17-490. No facility may employ or engage the
services of a caregiver who has been convicted of one of the crimes
listed in this paragraph. A person who has been convicted of one of the
crimes listed in this paragraph who applies for employment with, or is
employed by, a facility is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction,
must be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or
imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both. The State
Department of Social Services division may charge the
licensee a fee for the cost of obtaining criminal history conviction
records from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division."
(56) Section 20-7-2740 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2740. a. Regular licenses may be renewed upon
application and approval. Notification of a child day care center or
group day care home regarding renewal shall be the responsibility of the
department division.
b. Application for renewal shall be made on forms supplied by the
department division in the manner it prescribes.
c. Before renewing a license the department division
shall conduct an investigation of the child day care center or group day
care home. If the results of the investigation verify that the provisions
of this subarticle and the applicable regulations promulgated by the
department are satisfied, the license shall be renewed. The licensee
shall cooperate with the investigation and related inspections by
providing access to the physical plant, records and staff. Failure to
comply with the regulations promulgated by the department
director or his designee within the time period specified in this
subarticle provided adequate notification of deficiencies has been made
is a ground for revocation of the license. The investigation and
inspections may involve consideration of any facts, conditions or
circumstances relevant to the operation of the child day care center or
group day care home.
No license may be renewed for any operator who has been convicted
of any crime listed in Chapter 3 of Title 16, Offenses Against the Person,
any crime listed in Chapter 15 of Title 16, Offenses Against Morality
and Decency, and for the crime of contributing to the delinquency of a
minor, contained in Section 16-17-490. No facility may employ or
engage the services of a caregiver who has been convicted of one of the
crimes listed in this paragraph. The State Department of Social
Services division may charge the licensee a fee for the cost
of attaining criminal history conviction records from the South Carolina
Law-Enforcement Division."
(57) Section 20-7-2750 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2750. Whenever the department
division finds upon inspection that a private child day care
center or group day care home is not complying with any applicable
licensing regulations, the department division shall
notify the operator to correct such deficiencies.
a. Every correction notice shall be in writing and shall include a
statement of the deficiencies found, the period within which the
deficiencies must be corrected and the provision of the subarticle and
regulations relied upon. The period shall be reasonable and, except
when the department director or his designee finds an
emergency dangerous to the health or safety of children, not less than
thirty days from the receipt of such notice.
b. Within two weeks of receipt of such notice, the operator of the
facility may file a written request with the department
division for administrative reconsideration of the notice or any
portion thereof.
c. The department division shall grant or deny a
written request within seven days of filing and shall notify the operator
of such grant or denial.
d. In the event that the operator of the facility fails to correct
deficiencies within the period prescribed, the department
division may revoke the license."
(58) Section 20-7-2760(a), (b), (c), and (d) of the 1976 Code is
amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2760. a. An applicant who has been denied a
license by the department division shall be given
prompt written notice by certified or registered mail. The notice shall
indicate the reasons for the proposed action and shall inform the
applicant of the right to appeal the decision to the commissioner
director or his designee in writing within thirty days after the
receipt of notice of denial. Upon receiving a written appeal the
commissioner director or his designee shall give the
applicant reasonable notice and an opportunity for a prompt hearing
before a hearing examiner appointed by the Board of the South
Carolina Department of Social Services director or his
designee. On the basis of the evidence adduced at the hearing, the
commissioner director or his designee shall make the
final decision of the department division as to whether
the application shall be denied. If no written appeal is made, the
application shall be denied as of the termination of the thirty-day
period. An appeal from the final decision of the division may be
taken to an administrative law judge pursuant to the Administrative
Procedures Act.
b. A licensee whose application for renewal is denied or whose
license is about to be revoked shall be given written notice by certified
or registered mail. The notice shall contain the reasons for the proposed
action and shall inform the licensee of the right to appeal the decision to
the commissioner director or his designee in writing
within thirty calendar days after the receipt of the notice. Upon
receiving a written appeal the commissioner director or his
designee shall give the licensee reasonable notice and an
opportunity for a prompt hearing before a hearing examiner appointed
by the Board of the South Carolina Department of Social
Services director or his designee. On the basis of the
evidence adduced at the hearing, the commissioner director
or his designee shall make the final decision of the
department division as to whether the license shall be
denied or revoked. If no written appeal is made, the license shall be
denied or revoked as of the termination of the thirty-day period. An
appeal from the final decision of the department may be taken to an
administrative law judge pursuant to the Administrative Procedures
Act.
c. At the hearing provided for in this section, the applicant or licensee
may be represented by counsel and has the right to call, examine and
cross-examine witnesses and to otherwise introduce evidence. Parents
appearing at the hearing may also be represented by counsel. The
hearing examiner is empowered to require the presence of witnesses and
evidence by subpoena on behalf of the appellant or department. The
final decision of the department division shall be in
writing, shall contain the department's division's
findings of fact and rulings of law and shall be mailed to the parties to
the proceedings by certified or registered mail to their last known
addresses as may be shown in the application, or otherwise. A full and
complete record shall be kept of all proceedings, and all testimony shall
be reported but need not be transcribed unless the department's
division's decision is appealed to the courts, or a
transcript is requested by an interested party. Upon an appeal to the
courts, the department division shall furnish to any
appellant, free of charges, a certified copy of the transcript of all
evidentiary proceedings before it. Other parties shall pay the cost of
transcripts prepared at their request.
(d) The decision of the department division is final
unless appealed by a party to the hearing to the family court having
jurisdiction for the county in which the facility is located for review
within thirty days after the receipt by the party of the notice of the
decision. The review must be conducted in accordance with the
standards of review provided for in Section 1-23-380. The court may
enter judgment upon the pleadings and a certified transcript of the record
which must include the evidence upon which the findings and decisions
appealed are based an administrative law judge pursuant to the
Administrative Procedures Act."
(59) Section 20-7-2780 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2780. a. Each child day care center or group day
care home shall maintain its current license displayed in a prominent
place at all times.
b. No license shall be transferred nor shall the location of any child
day care center or group day care home or place of performance of
service be changed without the written consent of the department
division. The department division shall
consent to such change for a reasonable period of time when emergency
conditions require it, so long as the new location or place of performance
substantially conforms to state fire and health requirements.
c. Upon occurrence of death of a child on the premises of a child day
care center or group day care home in which such child is enrolled or
while under the constructive control of the holder of the license of such
facility, it shall be and hereby is the responsibility of the latter to notify
the department division within forty-eight hours and
follow up with a written report as soon as the stated cause of death is
certified by the appropriate government official."
(60) Section 20-7-2790 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2790. Every operator or potential operator of a
public child day care center or group day care home must apply to the
department division for an investigation and a statement
of standard conformity or approval, except those facilities designated in
Section 20-7-2700."
(61) Section 20-7-2800 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2800. a. Application for a statement of standard
conformity or approval shall be made on forms supplied by the
department division and in the manner it prescribes.
b. Before issuing approval the department division
shall conduct an investigation of the applicant and the proposed plan of
care for children and for operating a public child day care center or
group day care home. If the results of the investigation verify that the
provisions of the subarticle and the applicable regulations
promulgated by the department are satisfied, approval shall be
issued. The applicant shall cooperate with the investigation and
inspections by providing access to the physical plant, records and staff.
The investigation and related inspections may involve consideration of
any facts, conditions or circumstances relevant to the operation of the
child day care center or group day care home, including references and
other information about the character and quality of the personnel. If the
child day care center or group day care home fails to comply with the
regulations promulgated by the department of the
division within the time period specified in this subarticle provided
adequate notification regarding deficiencies has been given, the
appropriate public officials of the state and local government shall be
notified."
(62) Section 20-7-2810 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2810. a. Regular approvals may be renewed
upon application and approval. Notification of a child day care center
or group day care home regarding renewal shall be the responsibility of
the department division.
b. Application for renewal shall be made on forms supplied by the
department division and in the manner it prescribes.
c. Before renewing an approval the department
division shall conduct an investigation of the child day care
center or group day care home. If the results of the investigation verify
that the provisions of this subarticle and the applicable regulations
promulgated by the department are satisfied, the approval shall
be renewed. The operator shall cooperate with the investigation and
related inspections by providing access to the physical plant, records and
staff. If the operator's statement of approval cannot be renewed, the
appropriate public officials shall be notified."
(63) Section 20-7-2820 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2820. Whenever the department
division finds upon inspection that a public child day care
center or group day care home is not complying with any applicable
regulations, the department division may notify the
operator to correct such deficiencies.
a. Every correction notice shall be in writing and shall include a
statement of the deficiencies found, the period within which the
deficiencies must be corrected and the provision of the subarticle and
regulations relied upon. The period shall be reasonable and, except
when the department division finds an emergency
dangerous to the health or safety of children, not less than thirty days
from the receipt of such notice.
b. Within two weeks of receipt of such notice, the operator of the
public child day care center or group day care home may file a written
request with the department division for administrative
reconsideration of the notice or any portion thereof.
c. The department division shall grant or deny a
written request within seven days of filing and shall notify the operator
of the child day care center or group day care home of such grant or
denial.
d. In the event that the operator fails to correct any deficiency within
the period prescribed for correction, the department
division shall notify the appropriate public officials."
(64) Section 20-7-2830 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2830. a. An applicant or operator who
has been denied approval or renewal of approval by the
department division shall be given prompt written
notice thereof, which shall include a statement of the reasons for the
denial. The notice shall also inform the applicant or operator that it may,
within thirty days after the receipt of the notice of denial, appeal the
denial by making a written request to the commissioner
director or his designee for an opportunity to show cause why
its application should not be denied.
b. Upon receiving a written petition, the commissioner
director or his designee shall give the applicant or operator
reasonable notice and an opportunity for a prompt, informal meeting
with the commissioner director or his designee with
respect to the action by the department division, and an
opportunity to submit written material. On the basis of the available
evidence, including information obtained at the informal meeting and
from the written material, the commissioner director or his
designee shall decide whether the application shall be granted for
approval, provisional approval or denied. The decision of the
commissioner director or his designee shall be in
writing, shall contain findings of fact and shall be mailed to the parties
to the proceedings by certified or registered mail. Notification of the
decision shall be sent to the Governor and appropriate officials of the
State or local government."
(65) Section 20-7-2840 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2840. (A) As used in this subarticle,
"family day care home" means an occupied residence in
which child day care regularly is provided for no more than six children,
unattended by a parent or legal guardian, including those children living
in the home and the children received for day care who are related to the
resident caregiver. However, an occupied residence in which child day
care regularly is provided only for a child or children related to the
resident caregiver or only for the child or children of one unrelated
family, or only for a combination of these children, is not a family day
care home.
(B) An operator of a family day care home shall register with the
department within six months of June 13, 1977.
(C) (B) A family day care home which elects to
participate in a federal program which requires licensing as a
prerequisite to participation may elect to be licensed under the
procedures in Section 20-7-2850. A family day care home electing
licensing shall demonstrate compliance with the suggested standards
developed by the department under Section 20-7-2980 and shall
comply with provisions of Sections 20-7-2730 and 20-7-2740 relating
to criminal history conviction records checks upon original licensing and
upon renewal. Operators and caregivers of licensed family day care
homes are held to the standards in Sections 20-7-2730 and 20-7-2740
regarding criminal convictions."
(66) Section 20-7-2850 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2850. a. Registration shall be completed on
forms supplied by the department division and in the
manner it prescribes.
b. Prior to becoming a registered operator, the applicant shall:
(1) sign a statement that he has read the suggested standards
developed by the department division under Section
20-7-2980;
(2) furnish the department with a signed statement by each
consumer parent verifying that the operator has provided each consumer
parent with a copy of the suggested standards for family day care homes
and the procedures for filing complaints;
(3) upon request provide the department division
with any facts, conditions or circumstances relevant to the operation of
the family day care home, including references and other information
regarding the character of the family day care home operator."
(67) Section 20-7-2860 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2860. a. A statement of registration shall be
issued when the family day care operator satisfactorily completes the
procedures prescribed by this subarticle. The current statement shall be
displayed in a prominent place in the facility at all times.
b. Registration expires at the end of one year from the date of
issuance of the statement of registration. Registration may be renewed
according to the procedures developed by the department
division.
c. The department division shall have the power to
withdraw the statement of registration if the health and safety of the
children so require, if the facility has enrolled children beyond the limits
defined in this subarticle, or if the operator fails to comply with the
registration procedures provided in this subarticle."
(68) Section 20-7-2870 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2870. The department division
shall visit the facility when concerns are expressed by the community
regarding the health and safety of the children, child abuse or enrollment
beyond the limits set forth in this subarticle.
a. If the concern is in regard to the health and safety of the children,
the department division may call on other appropriate
agencies (i.e., State Department of Health and Environmental Control,
Office of the State Fire Marshal) as necessary to conduct an inspection.
b. If the concern indicates that the child has been abused, the
department division shall carry out its responsibility as
authorized under Article 7 of this chapter.
c. If the visits and inspections verify conditions detrimental to the
health and safety of the children or overenrollment, the
department division shall carry out its responsibility as
authorized by subsection C of Section 20-7-2860 and Section
20-7-3010."
(69) Section 20-7-2880 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2880. a. A registrant whose statement
of registration has been withdrawn by the department
division shall be given written notice by certified or registered
mail. The notice shall contain the reasons for the proposed action and
shall inform the registrant of the right to appeal the decision to the
commissioner director or his designee in writing within
thirty calendar days after the receipt of the notice. Upon receiving a
written appeal the commissioner director or his designee
shall give the registrant reasonable notice and an opportunity for a
prompt hearing before a hearing examiner appointed by the Board of
the South Carolina Department of Social Services director or his
designee. On the basis of the evidence adduced at the hearing, the
commissioner director or his designee shall make the
final decision of the department division as to whether
the statement of registration shall be withdrawn. If no written appeal is
made, the statement of registration shall be withdrawn as of the
termination of the thirty-day period.
b. At the hearing provided for in this section, the registrant may be
represented by counsel, and has the right to call, examine and
cross-examine witnesses and to otherwise introduce evidence. Parents
appearing at the hearing may also be represented by counsel. The
hearing examiner is empowered to require the presence of witnesses and
evidence by subpoena on behalf of the appellant or department. The
final decision of the department division shall be in
writing, shall contain the department's division's
findings of fact and rulings of law and shall be mailed to the parties to
the proceedings by certified or registered mail. A full and complete
record shall be kept of all proceedings, and all testimony shall be
reported and need not be transcribed unless the decision is appealed
to the courts, or a transcript is requested by an interested party.
Upon an appeal to the courts, the department
division shall furnish to any appellate, free of charge, a certified
copy of the transcript of all evidentiary proceedings before it. Other
parties shall pay the cost of transcripts.
(c) The decision of the department division is final
unless appealed by a party to the hearing to the family court having
jurisdiction for the county in which the facility is located for review
within thirty days after the receipt by the party of the notice of the
decision. The review must be conducted in accordance with the
standards of review provided for in Section 1-23-380. The court may
enter judgment upon the pleadings and a certified transcript of the record
which must include the evidence upon which the findings and decisions
appealed are based an administrative law judge pursuant to the
Administrative Procedures Act."
(70) Section 20-7-2890 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2890. The department division
shall offer consultation through employed staff or other qualified
persons to assist a potential applicant, an applicant or registered operator
in meeting and maintaining the suggested standards for family day care
homes."
(71) Section 20-7-2910 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2910. It shall be the responsibility of the child
day care operator to notify the department division of
the fact of its operation and existence and to request inspection of the
facility. It shall be the responsibility of the department
division to request that the local health and fire safety agencies
conduct an inspection of the facility at least annually and more often if
necessary to insure compliance with health and fire safety regulations.
If there be no local health and safety agencies to conduct the inspection,
then the appropriate State Agency will conduct the inspection. The
department division shall register any such day care
facility upon notification from health and fire safety agencies that the
day care facility is in compliance with such regulations.
The regulations applied shall be the same current
health and fire safety regulations applied to other facilities regulated
under this subarticle as set forth in the December 28, 1976
regulations as filed with the Secretary of State by the department for
Child Day Care Centers and Group Day Care Homes."
(72) Section 20-7-2920 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2920. The department director or his
designee may seek an injunction against the continuing operation
of a child day care center or group day care home in the family court
having jurisdiction over the county in which the facility is located
from an administrative law judge when:
(1) the facility is operating without having requested the
appropriate inspections;
(2) there is a violation of the health and fire safety regulations as
set forth by Sections 20-7-2910 through 20-7-2970 which threaten
serious harm to children in the facility;
(3) an operator repeatedly has violated the health and fire safety
regulations."
(73) Section 20-7-2930 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2930. Whenever the health or fire safety agency
finds upon inspection that a child day care center or group day care
home is not complying with the applicable regulations, the appropriate
agency shall notify the department.division The
department division shall then request the operator to
correct such deficiencies.
a. Every correction notice shall be in writing and shall include a
statement of the deficiencies found, the period within which the
deficiencies must be corrected and the provision of the subarticle and
regulations relied upon. The period shall be reasonable and, except
when the appropriate agency finds an emergency dangerous to the health
or safety of children, not less than thirty days from the receipt of such
notices.
b. Within two weeks of receipt of such notice, the operator of the
facility may file a written request with the department
division for administrative reconsideration of the notice or any
portion thereof.
c. The department division shall grant or deny a
written request and shall notify the operator of action taken.
d. In the event that the operator of the facility fails to correct
deficiencies within the period prescribed, the department
division may suspend the registration of the facility to be
effective thirty days after date of notice. An appeal from such action
by the division may be taken to an administrative law judge pursuant to
the Administrative Procedures Act."
(74) Section 20-7-2940 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2940. a. When the registration of a
facility has been suspended, the operator must be given prompt written
notice. The notice must indicate the reasons for the suspension and
inform the operator of the right to appeal the decision through
administrative channels to the department division and
according to established appeals procedure for the department.
b. Upon appeal, the decision of the department
division is final unless appealed by a party to the hearing to
the family court having jurisdiction for the county in which the
facility is located for review within thirty days after the receipt by the
party of the notice of the decision. The review must be conducted in the
family court in accordance with the standards of review provided for in
Section 1-23-380. The court may enter judgment upon the pleadings
and a certified transcript of the record which must include the evidence
upon which the findings and decisions appealed are based an
administrative law judge pursuant to the Administrative Procedures
Act."
(75) Section 20-7-2980 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2980. a. The department director or
his designee shall with the advice and consent of the Advisory
Committee develop and promulgate regulations depending upon the
nature of services to be provided for the operation and maintenance of
child day care centers and group day care homes. The
department director or his designee with the advice of
the Advisory Committee shall develop suggested standards which shall
serve as guidelines for the operators of family day care homes and the
parents of children who use the service. In developing such regulations
and suggested standards, the department director or his
designee shall consult with:
(1) Other state agencies, including the State Department of Health
and Environmental Control, the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the
Office of the Attorney General.
(2) Parents, guardians or custodians of children using the service.
(3) Child advocacy groups.
(4) The State Advisory Committee on the Regulation of Child Day
Care Facilities established by this subarticle.
(5) Operators of child day care facilities from all sectors.
(6) Professionals in fields relevant to child care and development.
(7) Employers of parents, guardians or custodians of children using
the service.
Draft formulations shall be widely circulated for criticism and
comment.
b. The regulations for operating and maintaining child day care
centers and group day care homes and the suggested standards for family
day care homes shall be designed to promote the health, safety and
welfare of the children who are to be served by assuring safe and
adequate physical surroundings and healthful food; by assuring
supervision and care of the children by capable, qualified personnel of
sufficient number. The regulations with respect to licensing and
approval, and the suggested standards with respect to registration of
family day care homes shall be designed to promote the proper and
efficient processing of matters within the cognizance of the
department division and to assure applicants, licensees,
approved operators, and registrants fair and expeditious treatment under
the law.
c. The department division shall conduct a
comprehensive review of its licensing and approval regulations and
family day care home suggested standards at least once each three years.
d. No regulations for child day care facilities shall exceed policies or
minimum standards set for public child day care facilities regulated
under this subarticle.
e. The department shall submit final drafts of its regulations to the
Legislative Council as proposed regulations, and the
Regulations must be promulgated in accordance with the
Administrative Procedures Act Section 1-23-10 et seq.
f. The department division shall establish a
procedure for its representatives to follow in receiving and recording
complaints. Standard forms may be produced and made available to
parents and users of facilities upon request to the department
division. A copy of any complaint shall be made available to
the involved operator immediately upon his request."
(76) Section 20-7-2990 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2990. a. In exercising the powers of licensing,
approving, renewing, revoking, or making provisional licenses and
approvals, the department division shall investigate and
inspect licensees and approved operators and applicants for a license or
an approval. The authorized representative of the department
division may visit a child day care center or group day care
home anytime during the hours of operation for purposes of
investigations and inspections. In conducting investigations and
inspections, the department division may call on
political subdivisions and governmental agencies for appropriate
assistance within their authorized fields. The inspection of the health
and fire safety of child day care centers and group day care homes must
be completed upon the request of the department
division by the appropriate agencies (i.e. Department of Health
and Environmental Control, the Office of the State Fire Marshal,
or local authorities). Inspection reports completed by state agencies and
local authorities must be furnished to the department
division and become a part of its determination of conformity
for licensing and approval. After careful consideration of the reports
and consultation where necessary, the department
division shall assume responsibility for the final determination
of licensing, approving, renewing, revoking, or making provisional
licenses and approvals.
b. Before issuing a license or approval the department
division shall conduct an investigation of the applicant and the
proposed plan of care for children and for operating a child day care
center or a group day care home. If the results of the investigation
satisfy the department division that the provisions of
this subarticle and the applicable regulations promulgated by the
department are satisfied, a license or approval must be issued."
(77) Section 20-7-3000 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3000. The department division
shall offer consultation through employed staff or other qualified person
to assist applicants and operators in meeting and maintaining
regulations."
(78) Section 20-7-3010 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3010. a. The department director or
his designee is empowered to seek an injunction against the
continuing operation of a child day care facility in the family court
having jurisdiction over the county in which the facility is located
from an administrative law judge:
(1) when a facility is operating without a license or statement of
registration;
(2) when there is any violation of this subarticle or of the
regulations promulgated by the department hereunder
which threatens serious harm to children in the child day care facility;
(3) when an operator has repeatedly violated this subarticle or the
regulations of the department promulgated hereunder.
b. Proceedings for securing the injunctions may be brought by the
Attorney General or circuit solicitor of the jurisdiction in which the
facility or its headquarters is located."
(79) Section 20-7-3020 a. of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3020. a. The department
division shall have power to issue a provisional registration,
provisional license or provisional approval only when the
department division is satisfied that (1) the regulations
can and will be met within a reasonable time, and (2) the deviations do
not seriously threaten the health or safety of the children. Such
provisional registration, provisional license, or provisional approval,
may be extended for such period as may be determined by the
department division but in no case beyond July 1,
1981."
(80) Section 20-7-3030 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3030. The department division
shall have power to issue a declaratory order to any applicant regarding
approval of drawings and specifications related to construction or
renovations proposed by a facility. Such order shall specifically state
each factor to be considered and shall clearly indicate the
department's division's probable approval or disapproval
of each factor. No appeal of a declaratory order shall be permitted. No
facet of a facility constructed in compliance with a declaratory order of
the department division shall serve as a basis for a
refusal by the department division to license or approve
a facility."
(81) Section 20-7-3050 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3050. The State Advisory Committee on the
Regulation of Child Day Care Facilities shall:
a. After the initial promulgation of regulations following the
adoption of this subarticle, the committee shall review
Review changes in the regulations and suggested standards
proposed by the department director or his designee and
make recommendations thereon to the commissioner director
or his designee. The committee shall evaluate the regulations and
suggested standards at the three year review period (Subsection C of
Section 20-7-2980) and recommend necessary changes to the
department. After the promulgation of the initial regulations
following the adoption of this subarticle, no No regulation
shall be promulgated by the department which has been if
the standard has been disapproved by a simple majority of the
committee.
b. Advise the department division regarding the
improvement of the regulation of child day care facilities.
c. Advise the department division on matters of
regulatory policy, planning and priorities.
d. As it deems necessary, hold a public hearing at least thirty days
prior to adoption of the regulations by the department.
e. Plan with the department division for the
procedures to be used in notifying licensees, approved operators and
registrants regarding regulatory changes sixty days prior to intended
promulgation.
f. Maintain through the department division the
essential liaison with other departments and agencies of state and local
government so as to preclude imposition of duplicate requirements upon
operators subject to regulations under this subarticle.
g. Act to move the adoption of its recommendations and other
pertinent disposition of matters before it by decision of a simple majority
of those members present and voting, provided there is a quorum of
eight members."
(82) Section 20-7-3060 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3060. The department division
shall provide reasonable secretarial and administrative support to the
advisory committee."
(83) Section 20-7-5420 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-5420. (A) The State Council on Maternal,
Infant, and Child Health shall consist of the following members:
(1) the Commissioner of the South Carolina Department of Health
and Environmental Control; the State Superintendent of Education or his
designee; the State Commissioner Director of
Social the Department of Children's and Family
Services or his designee; director of the South Carolina
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse; the State Commissioner of
Mental Health; the State Commissioner of Mental Retardation; the
Executive Director of the State Health and Human Services Finance
Commission; the Commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for
the Blind; and the Chairman of the Statewide Health Coordinating
Council; and
(2) a member of the Health Care Planning and Oversight Committee,
to be appointed by the chairman; and a member of the Joint Legislative
Committee on Children, to be appointed by the chairman. The Governor
shall appoint one representative of each of the following organizations
as a member of the council: South Carolina Medical Association; South
Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; South
Carolina Chapter of the American College of Obstetrics and
Gynecology; South Carolina Chapter of the Academy of Family
Practice; South Carolina Hospital Association; Medical University of
South Carolina; University of South Carolina School of Medicine;
Clemson University Extension Service; South Carolina Congress of
Parents and Teachers; Developmental Disabilities Council; South
Carolina March of Dimes; South Carolina Nurses Association; and
South Carolina Perinatal Association. The Governor shall appoint one
member from each of the six congressional districts of the State who
represents business, civic, community, and religious groups. The
Governor may appoint other ex officio members to the council as are
needed to provide information to assist in the work of the council."
(84) Sections 20-7-2308, 20-7-2309, 20-7-2327, 20-7-2335,
20-7-2337, 20-7-2365, and 20-7-2950 of the 1976 Code are repealed.
(85) Section 59-49-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-49-10. The John De La Howe School is
transferred to and incorporated in and shall be administered by the
Division of Children's Services in the Department of Children's and
Family Services. There is hereby established under the
provisions of this chapter an institution to be known as the John De La
Howe School."
(86) Section 59-49-20 of the Code is repealed.
(87) Section 59-49-30 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(88) Section 59-49-40 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(89) Section 59-49-60 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(90) Section 59-49-70 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-49-70. The John De La Howe School is
hereby declared to be a body corporate and, as such, may sue and be
sued and plead and be impleaded in its corporate name, may have and
use a proper seal, which it may alter at its pleasure and The
division may adopt a seal for the school for use in official business
and may acquire by purchase, deed, devise, lease for a term of
years, bequest or otherwise such property, real and personal, in fee
simple without limitations as may be necessary or proper for carrying
out the purposes of the school its organization as herein
declared."
(91) Section 59-49-80 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-49-80. The board shall elect a A
superintendent for said the school at such salary and
for such term as it may fix. The shall be appointed and the
superintendent shall employ and discharge all employees of the
school, subject to the approval of the board."
(92) Section 59-49-90 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(93) Section 59-49-100 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-49-100. It is declared to be the purpose and policy
of the State to maintain and develop the school property in accordance
with the purposes of the will of Dr. John De La Howe as interpreted by
the Supreme Court of South Carolina, Mars v. Gibert, 93 SC 455, which
for historical reference reads: "First, the establishment and
maintenance of an agricultural and mechanical school as an institution
in Abbeville County, stimulating and improving the industrial life of the
entire community; second, the training, free of charge, of twenty-four
boys and girls, not as college men and women, but in the beginning of
school life; and, third, the like training of the children of the
neighborhood not supported by the fund." It is declared that the
term "Abbeville County" shall be understood to mean that
portion of South Carolina known as Abbeville County at the time the
will of Dr. John De La Howe was dated, namely January 2, 1797. The
property is now in McCormick County. It is further declared that, given
the above historical perspective,the Board of Trustees of John De La
Howe School shall instruct Superintendent of the school, to
must implement programs which shall meet the needs of
children from all of South Carolina who for some urgent reason need to
be separated from their home or community."
(94) Section 59-49-110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-49-110. The division trustees of the
John De La Howe School may carry out improved forestry and farm
practices on the timber holdings and farmland of the school property and
apply the revenues derived from them and any other revenue source on
the property for the further improvement and development of the school
forest and farmlands and for other school purposes."
(95) Section 59-49-120 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(96) Section 59-49-140 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-49-140. In accordance with the purposes of the
school as herein defined, the board of trustees
Director of the Department of his designee shall make such
rules and regulations for its own government and for the
management of the school as it may deem necessary, consistent with the
laws of this State and with the terms of the will of Dr. John De La
Howe."
(97) Section 59-49-150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-49-150. Pupils at the school whose estates are
sufficient or the relatives of the pupils liable in law for their support
whose estates are sufficient shall pay for the maintenance of the pupils
in whole or in part. Policies concerning the manner and method of
determining financial ability and the collecting and retention of amounts
required to be paid must be determined by the Board of Trustees
division, in accordance with state policy."
(98) Section 20-7-600 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-600. (A) When a child found violating a
criminal law or ordinance, or whose surroundings are such as to
endanger his welfare, is taken into custody, the taking into custody is not
an arrest. The jurisdiction of the court attaches from the time of the
taking into custody. When a child is so taken into custody, the officer
taking the child into custody shall notify the parent, guardian, or
custodian of the child as soon as possible. Unless otherwise ordered by
the court, the person taking the child into custody may release the child
to a parent, a responsible adult, a responsible agent of a court-approved
foster home, group home, nonsecure facility, or program upon the
written promise, signed by the person, to bring the child to the court at
a stated time or at a time the court may direct. The written promise,
accompanied by a written report by the officer, must be submitted to the
South Carolina Department of Youth Services Division of
Children's Services as soon as possible, but not later than
twenty-four hours after the child is taken into custody. If the person
fails to produce the child as agreed, or upon notice from the court, a
summons or a warrant may be issued for the apprehension of the person
or of the child.
(B) When a child is not released pursuant to subsection (A), the
officer taking the child into custody immediately shall notify the
authorized representative of the Department of Youth Services
Division of Children's Services, who shall respond within one
hour to the location where the child is being detained. Upon responding,
the authorized representative of the department Division of
Children's Services shall review the facts in the officer's report or
petition and any other relevant facts and determine if there is a need for
detention of the child. The officer's written report must be furnished to
the authorized representatives of the department Division of
Children's Services and must state:
(1) the facts of the offense;
(2) the reason why the child was not released to the parent.
Unless the child is to be detained, the child must be released by the
authorized representative of the department Division of
Children's Services to the custody of his parents or other
responsible adult upon their written promise to bring the child to the
court at a stated time or at a time the court may direct. However, if the
offense for which the child was taken into custody is a violent crime as
defined in Section 16-1-60 the child may be released only by the
authorized representative of the department Division of
Children's Services with the consent of the officer who took the
child into custody.
(C) No child may be transported to a juvenile detention facility in a
police vehicle which also contains adults under arrest. No child may be
placed in secure confinement or ordered detained by the court in secure
confinement in an adult jail or other place of detention for adults for
more than six hours. However, the prohibition against the secure
confinement of juveniles in adult jails does not apply to juveniles who
have been waived to the Court of General Sessions for the purpose of
standing trial as an adult. Juveniles placed in secure confinement in an
adult jail during this six-hour period must be confined in an area of the
jail which is separated by sight and sound from adults similarly
confined.
(D) Peace officers' records of children must be kept separate from
records of adults, must not be open to public inspection, and may be
open to inspection only by governmental agencies authorized by the
judge.
(E) When a child is to be transported to a juvenile detention facility
following a detention screening review conducted by the Department
of Youth Services Division of Children's Services or after
a detention order has been issued by the court, the local law enforcement
agency which originally took the child into custody shall transport this
child to the juvenile detention facility.
(F) When the authorized representative of the Department of
Youth Services Division of Children's Services determines
that placement of a juvenile outside the home is necessary, he shall make
a diligent effort to place the child in an approved home, program, or
facility, other than a secure juvenile detention facility, when these
alternatives are appropriate and available. A child is eligible for
detention in a secure juvenile detention facility only if the child:
(1) is charged with a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60;
(2) is charged with a crime which, if committed by an adult,
would be a felony other than a violent crime, and the child:
(a) is already detained or on probation or conditional release
in connection with another delinquency proceeding;
(b) has a demonstrable recent record of wilful failures to appear
at court proceedings;
(c) has a demonstrable recent record of violent conduct
resulting in physical injury to others; or
(d) has a demonstrable recent record of adjudications for other
felonies; and:
(i) there is clear and convincing evidence to establish a risk
of flight, or serious harm to others; or
(ii) the instant offense involved the use of a firearm;
(3) is a fugitive from another jurisdiction;
(4) requests protection in writing under circumstances that present
an immediate threat of serious physical injury. A child who meets the
criteria provided in this subsection is eligible for detention. Detention
is not mandatory for a child meeting the criteria if that child can be
supervised adequately at home or in a less secure setting or program.
(G) A child who is taken into custody because of a violation of law
which would not be a criminal offense under the laws of this State if
committed by an adult must not be placed or ordered detained in an adult
detention facility. A child who is taken into custody because of a
violation of the law which would not be a criminal offense under the
laws of this State if committed by an adult must not be placed or ordered
detained more than twenty-four hours in a juvenile detention facility,
unless an order previously has been issued by the court, of which the
child has notice and which notifies the child that further violation of the
court's order may result in the secure detention of that child in a juvenile
detention facility. If a juvenile is ordered detained for violating a valid
court order, the juvenile may be held in secure confinement in a juvenile
detention facility for not more than seventy-two hours, excluding
weekends and holidays. However, nothing in this section precludes a
law enforcement officer from taking a status offender in custody.
(H) If the authorized representative of the Department of Youth
Services Division of Children's Services has not released
the child to the custody of his parents or other responsible adult, the
court shall hold a detention hearing within twenty-four hours from the
time the child was taken into custody, excluding Saturdays, Sundays,
and holidays. At this hearing, the authorized representative of the
department Division of Children's Services shall submit
to the court a report stating the facts surrounding the case and a
recommendation as to the child's continued detention pending the
adjudicatory and dispositional hearings. The court shall appoint counsel
for the child if none is retained. No child may proceed without counsel
in this hearing, unless the child waives the right to counsel, and then
only after consulting at least once with an attorney. At the conclusion
of this hearing, the court shall determine whether probable cause exists
to justify the detention of the child as well as determining the
appropriateness of, and need for, the child's continued detention. If
continued detention of a juvenile is considered appropriate by the court
and if a juvenile detention facility exists in that county which meets state
and federal requirements for the secure detention of juveniles, or if that
facility exists in another county with which the committing county has
a contract for the secure detention of its juveniles, and if commitment of
a juvenile by the court to that facility does not cause it to exceed its
design and operational capacity, the family court shall order the
detention of the juvenile in that facility. Periodic reviews of the
detention order must be conducted in accordance with the rules of
practice in a family court. However, a juvenile must not be detained in
secure confinement in excess of ninety days. If the child does not
qualify for detention or otherwise require continued detention under the
terms of subsection (F), the child must be released to a parent, guardian,
or other responsible person."
(99) Section 20-7-630 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-630. Beginning July 1, 1978, the South
Carolina Department of Juvenile Placement and Aftercare (A)
In the Department of Children's and Family Services the Division of
Children's Services shall provide intake and probation services for
juveniles brought before the family courts of this State and for
persons committed or referred to the Department of Youth Services
in cooperation with all local officials or agencies concerned. All
recommendations by the Department of Juvenile Placement and
Aftercare division as to intake shall be reviewed by the
office of the solicitor in the circuit concerned and the final determination
as to whether or not the juvenile shall be prosecuted in family court shall
be made by the solicitor or of his authorized assistant. Statements of the
juvenile contained in the Department of Juvenile Placement and
Aftercare division files shall not be furnished to the
solicitor's office as part of the intake review procedure nor shall the
solicitor's office be privy to such statements in connection with its intake
review."
(100) Section 20-7-770 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-770. Notwithstanding the right of a person to
petition the Family Court pursuant to Section 20-7-780 for the release
of a person's record of juvenile adjudications, upon the request of the
Attorney General or a circuit solicitor which is made pursuant to a
current criminal investigation or prosecution, the Department of Youth
Services shall provide the requesting party with a copy of the juvenile
criminal record of a person adjudicated as a juvenile for the commission
of a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60. A person with a
record for an adjudicated violent crime must have his juvenile criminal
record maintained by the Department of Youth Services
Division of Children's Services for at least ten years after the
date of the violent offense adjudication."
(101) Section 20-7-780 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-780. (A) The court shall make and keep
records of all cases brought before it and shall devise and cause to be
printed forms for social and legal records and other papers as may be
required. The official juvenile records of the courts
and, the Department of Youth Services,
Division of Children's Services are open to inspection only by
consent of the judge to persons having a legitimate interest but always
must be available to the legal counsel of the juvenile. All information
obtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty by
an employee of the court or Department of Youth Services
the Division of Children's Services is confidential and must not
be disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone, other than the judge or
others entitled under this chapter to receive this information unless
otherwise ordered by the judge. However, these records are open to
inspection without the consent of the judge where the records are
necessary to defend against an action initiated by a juvenile.
(B) The Department of Youth Services Division of
Children's Services, if requested, shall provide the victim of a
violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60, with the name and other
basic descriptive information about the juvenile charged with the crime
and with information about the juvenile justice system, the status and
disposition of the delinquency action, including hearing dates, times, and
locations, and concerning services available to victims of juvenile crime.
The name, identity, or picture of a child under the jurisdiction of the
court, pursuant to this chapter, must not be made public by a newspaper,
radio, or television station except as authorized by order of the court.
(C) A juvenile charged with committing a violent offense as defined
in Section 16-1-60, or charged with committing grand larceny of a motor
vehicle, may be fingerprinted by the law enforcement agency who takes
the juvenile into custody. A juvenile charged with committing a
nonviolent or status offense must not be fingerprinted by law
enforcement except upon order of a family court judge. The fingerprint
records of a juvenile must be kept separate from the fingerprint records
of adults. The fingerprint records of a juvenile must not be transmitted
to the files of the State Law Enforcement Division or to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation or otherwise distributed or provided to another
law enforcement agency unless the juvenile is adjudicated delinquent for
having committed a violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60, or for
grand larceny of a motor vehicle. The fingerprint records of a juvenile
who is not adjudicated delinquent for having committed a violent
offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60, or for grand larceny of a motor
vehicle upon notification to law enforcement, must be destroyed or
otherwise expunged by the law enforcement agency who took the
juvenile into custody. The Department of Youth Services
Division of Children's Services may fingerprint and photograph
a juvenile upon commitment to a juvenile correctional institution.
Fingerprints and photographs taken by the Department of Youth
Services division remain confidential and must not be
transmitted to the State Law Enforcement Division, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, or another agency or person, except for the purpose of
aiding the department division in apprehending an
escapee from the department division or assisting the
Missing Persons Information Center in the location or identification of
a missing or runaway child."
(102) Section 20-7-1330(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(a) place the child on probation or under supervision in
his own home or in the custody of a suitable person elsewhere, upon
conditions as the court may determine. A child placed on probation by
the court remains under the authority of the court only until the
expiration of the specified term of his probation. This specified term of
probation may expire before but not after the eighteenth birthday of the
child. Probation means casework services during a continuance of the
case. Probation must not be ordered or administered as punishment, but
as a measure for the protection, guidance, and well-being of the child
and his family. Probation methods must be directed to the discovery and
correction of the basic causes of maladjustment and to the development
of the child's personality and character, with the aid of the social
resources of the community. The court may impose restitution or
participation in supervised work or community service as a condition of
probation. The Department of Youth Services Division of
Children's Services, in coordination with local community agencies,
shall develop and encourage employment of a constructive nature
designed to make reparation and to promote the rehabilitation of the
child. If the court imposes as a condition of probation a requirement that
restitution in a specified amount be paid, the amount to be paid as
restitution may not exceed five hundred dollars. The Department of
Youth Services Division of Children's Services shall
develop a system for the transferring of a court ordered restitution from
the juvenile to the victim or owner of property injured, destroyed, or
stolen;"
(103) Section 20-7-1490 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1490. Each county shall provide sufficient
physical facilities for the operation of the statewide family court system
in that county. On July 1, 1978, the South Carolina Department of
Juvenile Placement and Aftercare The Division of Children's
Services shall provide juvenile intake and probation
services to the family courts of this State as provided in S
20-7-630."
(104) The first paragraph of Section 20-7-2095 of the 1976 Code is
amended to read:
"The Board of Juvenile Parole (parole board) shall meet
monthly, and at other times as may be necessary, to review the records
and progress of children committed to the custody of the Board or
Department of Youth Services (Department) Division of
Children's Services for the purpose of deciding the release or
revocation of release of such children. The parole board shall make
periodic inspections, at least quarterly, of the records of persons
committed to the custody of the Board of Youth Services
Division of Children's Services and may, in its discretion, issue
temporary and final discharges or release such persons conditionally and
prescribe conditions for such release into aftercare. It shall be the right
of any such juvenile to personally appear before the parole board every
three months for the purpose of parole consideration, but no such
appearance shall begin until the parole board determines that an
appropriate period of time has elapsed since the juvenile's commitment.
In addition, and at the discretion of the parole board, the quarterly
reviews of juveniles committed to the division for having committed a
violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60, may be waived by the
parole board until the juvenile reaches the minimum parole guidelines
established for the juvenile by the parole board. In order to allow
such reviews and personal appearances by children, the chairman of the
parole board may assign the members to meet in panels of not less than
three members to receive progress reports and recommendations, review
cases, meet with children, meet with counselors, and to hear matters and
consider cases for release, parole, and parole revocation. Membership
on such panels shall be periodically rotated on a random basis by the
chairman. At the meetings of the panels, any unanimous vote shall be
considered the final decision of the parole board. Any panel vote that
is not unanimous shall not be considered as a final decision of the parole
board and the matter shall be referred to the full parole board, which
shall determine the matter by a majority vote of its membership."
(105) Section 20-7-2115 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2115. The department Division of
Children's Services shall be is charged with the
responsibility of making aftercare investigations to determine suitable
placement for children considered for conditional release from the
correctional schools. The department division
shall also have has the responsibility of
supervising the aftercare program, making revocation
investigations, and submitting findings to the parole board.
The commissioner and such division staff as he
shall designate in the performance of their, with duties of
investigation, counseling and supervision, and revocation investigations,
shall be regarded as are considered official
representatives of the parole board.
The commissioner and counsels division staff must abide
by shall be subject to the rules and regulations for parole
and parole revocation promulgated by the parole board and shall meet
with the parole board at its meetings when requested. Community-based
counselors, or their supervisors, with assigned clients committed to
institutions of the department Division of Children's
Services shall periodically visit the institutions in order to counsel
their clients and accomplish such the duties as outlined
in this subarticle.
Employees of the department that serve as counselors for the
purpose of presenting juvenile progress reports and release
recommendations to the parole board and the immediate supervisor of
these employees shall be employed by the Commissioner with the advice
and consent of the Parole Board. The service of these employees in such
capacity shall continue at the pleasure of the Parole Board.
Recognizing the need to maintain autonomy and to provide a
check and balance system, the Director of the Department of Children's
and Family Services, Division of Children's Services, shall employ staff
necessary to carry out the duties of parole examinations, victim liaison,
and revocation hearings. All staff are employees of the department and
are directly responsible to the department both administratively and
operationally. Funds allocated for the functions designated in this
section must be incorporated as a line item within the department's
budget.
The department shall continue to provide the budgetary, fiscal,
personnel, and training information resources and other support
considered necessary by the parole board to perform its mandated
functions."
(106) Section 20-7-2125 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2125. Any juvenile, who shall have been
conditionally released from a correctional school, shall remain under the
authority of the Parole Board until the expiration of the specified term
imposed in his conditional aftercare release. The specified period of
conditional release may expire before but not after the eighteenth
nineteenth birthday of the juvenile. Each juvenile conditionally
released shall be subject to the conditions and restrictions of his release
and may at any time on the order of the Parole Board be returned to the
custody of a correctional institution for violation of aftercare rules or
conditions of release.
As a condition of correctional release, the Parole Board may impose
participation in the restitution, work and community service programs
as established by the Department of Youth Services Division
of Children's Services pursuant to item (a) of Section
20-7-1330."
(107) Section 20-7-2155 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2155. To be eligible for appointment as a
probation counselor, an applicant must possess all of the following:
(a) A college degree involving special training in the field of
social science, or its equivalent;
(b) A personalty and character as would render him suitable for
the functions of the office.
Probation counselors shall live in districts as shall be determined by
the Board director. Each counsel
counselor shall periodically visit the schools under the
supervision of the Department of Youth Services. The director or
assistant director shall meet with each counsel or Division of
Children's Services familiarize himself with the records,
background and needs of the children. In addition, the
director, and shall make periodic reports to the school.
The reports of the director shall be included in the annual report of
the Board.
Duties of the probation counselors shall be to make such investigation
of the child and home as may be required by the court; to be present in
court at the hearing of cases and to furnish to the court such information
and assistance as the judge may require; and to take charge of any child
before and after hearing as may be directed by the court. During the
probationary period of any child and during the time that the child may
be committed to any institution or to the care of any association or
person for custodial or disciplinary purposes, the child shall always be
subject to visitation by the probation counselors or other agents
of the court."
(108) Section 20-7-3100 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(109) Section 20-7-3110 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(110) Section 20-7-3120 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(111) Section 20-7-3130 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(112) Section 20-7-3140 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(113) Section 20-7-3150 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(114) Section 20-7-3160 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(115) Section 20-7-3170 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(116) Section 20-7-3180 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(117) Section 20-7-3190 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3190. The Board Department of
Children's and Family Services may enter into agreements with the
governing bodies of other state departments or institutions for the
purpose of effecting a more efficient and economical management of
any institutions or programs under its supervision. The Board
department is authorized to make contracts and expend public
funds as required to carry out the functions prescribed for it in this
article within the limits of appropriated funds.
An annual report of the department shall be prepared by the Board
which shall include an account of all funds received and expended,
persons served by the Department including a report of the state and
conditions of the correctional institutions and community programs
operated by the Department."
(118) Section 20-7-3200 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(119) Section 20-7-3210 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3210. The Department Division of
Children's Services shall provide such community services
as the Board shall assign to it which shall include, but not be
limited to, the following:
(a) Family Court intake screening and referral counseling.
(b) Serving, advising and counseling children placed on probation
by the Family Court.
(c) Serving, advising and counseling of children in the various
institutions as may be necessary to the placement of the children in
proper environment after release and the placement of children in
suitable jobs where necessary and proper.
(d) Supervising and guiding of children released or conditionally
released from institutions.
(e) Counseling children released or conditionally released by the
Parole Board.
(f) Coordinating the activities of supporting community agencies
which aid in the social adjustment of children released by the Parole
Board.
(g) Providing or arranging for necessary services leading to the
rehabilitation of delinquents either within the Department
Division of Children's Services or through cooperative
arrangements with other appropriate agencies.
(h) Providing counseling and supervision for any child under
twelve years of age who has been adjudicated delinquent, convicted of
a crime or has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, when other
suitable personnel is not available and upon request of the court
concerned.
(i) Providing detention screening services when a child is taken
into custody for violation of a law or ordinance as provided in
subsections (a) and (b) of S 20-7-600.
(j) Providing prevention services to include short and long range
planning, establishing statewide priorities and standards, development
of public awareness programs, and technical assistance to local
government in the development of prevention programs.
(k) Providing for the development of secure and nonsecure
alternatives to jail.
(l) Providing for a variety of community-based programs to
augment regular probation services, such as volunteer services,
restitution, community work programs, family counseling and contract
probation with specific sanctions for various types of behavior.
(m) Providing for a variety of community-based programs to serve
as alternatives to institutions, such as halfway houses, work release,
intensive probation, restitution, forestry and wilderness camps, marine
science programs, and other residential and nonresidential programs.
(n) Providing for programs to divert juveniles, where proper and
appropriate, from the Juvenile Justice System."
(120) Section 20-7-3220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3220. The role and function of intake is to
independently assess the circumstances and needs of children referred
for possible prosecution in the Family Court. As provided in Section
20-7-630 all recommendations by the Department Division
of Children's Services as to intake shall be reviewed by the office
of the solicitor in the circuit concerned and the final determination as to
whether or not the juvenile shall be prosecuted in the Family Court shall
be made by the solicitor or by his authorized assistant. Statements of the
juvenile contained in the department's division's files
shall not be furnished to the solicitor's office as part of the intake review
procedure nor shall the solicitor's office be privy to such statements in
connection with its intake review. Where circumstances do not warrant
prosecution in the discretion of the solicitor, the intake counselor shall
offer referral assistance for services as appropriate for the child and
family. In the event that a juvenile is adjudicated to be delinquent or
found by the Family Court to be in violation of the terms of his
probation, the intake counselor shall offer appropriate dispositional
recommendations to the Family Court for its consideration and
determination of the disposition of the case. The department's
division's policies and procedures for the provision of intake
services shall be reviewed by and subject to the approval of the Board
of Juvenile Parole."
(121) Section 20-7-3230(A)(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"(2) managing, operating, and supervising Birchwood,
Willow Lane, John G. Richards, and other facilities as the board
department may establish;"
(122) Section 20-7-3235 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3235. Juvenile correctional employees of the
department, while performing their officially assigned duties relating to
the custody, control, transportation, or recapture of a juvenile offender
within the jurisdiction of the department, and other employees of the
department authorized by the commissioner director to
perform similar functions as part of their official duties, have the status
of peace officers anywhere in this State in a matter relating to the
custody, control, transportation, or recapture of the juvenile. Employees
of the department's Division of Public Safety, on proper training and
certification from the Criminal Justice Academy, and after having taken
the oath of office prescribed by law and the Constitution of this State,
must continue to be commissioned as state constables pursuant to
Section 23-1-60."
(123) Section 20-7-3240 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3240. The Department of Youth
Services Within the Department of Children's and Family
Services, Division of Children's Services, there is designated
as a special school district which shall operate a continuous
progress education program on a twelve-month basis. There is created
within the Department division the Education
Division Office which shall provide academic and
vocational training at the Reception and Evaluation Center, Birchwood
High School, Willow Lane Junior High School and all other institutions
operating under the Department. Academic and vocational training
provided pursuant to this section shall meet all educational standards
prescribed by law and by the Department of Education for public
schools of the State including, but not limited to, compliance with and
operation under the provisions of the Education Finance Act, the
Defined Minimum Program, teacher and superintendent certification
laws and regulations, and other laws or regulations governing the
education of children. The Department may prescribe such additional
requirements as it may from time to time deem necessary.
The State Superintendent of Education shall administer the standards
related to the school programs. Reports from the Department of
Education evaluating the educational program at all juvenile corrections
institutions and indicating whether or not the program meets the
standards as prescribed, shall be made directly to the Board
director of the department at regularly scheduled meetings.
Such Department of Education supervisory personnel as deemed
appropriate shall be utilized for evaluating the programs and for
reporting to the Board director.
Schools operated by the Board Department of Children's
and Family Services shall receive funds from the Department of
Education under the same provisions as other public schools in the State.
The Board Director of the Department of Children's and
Family Services shall operate as the Board of Trustees for
the schools under its the department's
jurisdiction for all administrative purposes, including the receipt and
expenditure of funds appropriated or granted to the schools for any
purpose. The Commissioner director with the
advice and consent of the Board shall employ a full-time
superintendent of schools for the special school district. The
superintendent shall hold a valid superintendent's certificate from the
Department of Education and shall serve as the head of the Education
Division Office.
In lieu of classification by the Division of State Personnel, the
employment status of the superintendent of schools for the Department
and all instructional personnel operating under the Education
Division Office of the Department shall be governed by
the laws of the State regarding employment of instructional personnel
and regulations of the Department of Education."
(124) Section 20-7-3250 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
(125) Section 20-7-3270 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3270. The Board department
is authorized to charge and collect fees for evaluation and treatment
services provided for any person referred or temporarily committed to
its facilities either at the evaluation center in Columbia or any center or
other facility of the Department division. Fees may be
charged to a parent or guardian or to the public or private agency
responsible for the temporary commitment or referral. In cases where
insurance coverage is available, fees of treatment or evaluation may be
charged to the insurer. No fees shall be charged to any person who is
finally committed to a custodial facility of the Department
division and no person shall be denied treatment or evaluation
services because of inability to pay for such services.
The Board department director shall approve a
schedule of maximum charges for the various services of the
Department, including residential care, and shall review the schedule
from time to time. The Board department shall adopt
procedures to determine ability to pay and may authorize its designees
to reduce or waive charges based upon their findings.
No charge for services rendered by the Department
division may exceed the actual cost of such services at the
facility rendering such services.
The department shall establish a hearing and review procedure so that
parents or legal guardians of a person under the department's jurisdiction
may appeal charges made for services or may present to the
departmental officials information or evidence which, in their opinion,
needs to be considered in establishing charges.
The department may utilize all legal procedures to collect lawful
claims. All funds collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited
with the State Treasurer for use of the department in defraying the cost
of services for which such fees may be collected."
(126) Section 20-7-3280 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3280. The Board director is
authorized to sell mature trees, other timber and farm products and
commodities from lands owned by the Department. Prior to the sale of
timber, the Board director shall consult with the State
Forester to determine the economic feasibility of and obtain approval for
such sales. Funds derived from such sales shall be credited to the
account of the Department to be used for capital improvements subject
to the approval of the Budget and Control Board."
(127) Section 20-7-3300 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3300. Records and information of the
department pertaining to juveniles shall be confidential as provided in
Section 20-7-780; provided, however, that where necessary and
appropriate to ensure the provision and coordination of services and
assistance to a juvenile under the custody or supervision of the
department, the board must establish policies by which the department
may transmit such information and records to another department,
agency, or school district of state or local government, or private
institution or facility licensed by the State as a child serving
organization, where such is required for admission or enrollment of the
juvenile into a program of services, treatment, training, or education.
Records and information provided to a public or private school by the
department of Youth Services must include in the case of an
individual who has been adjudicated for having committed a violent
crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60 and committed to the
Department division of Youth Services, a copy
of, and, if requested, information pertaining to that person's juvenile
criminal record. The person's juvenile criminal record must be provided
by the Department division of Youth Services
to the principal of the school which the juvenile is eligible to attend
immediately upon the person's release from the Department
division of Youth Services. Each school district is
responsible for developing a policy for schools to follow within the
district which ensures that the confidential nature of these records and
of the other information received is maintained. This policy must
include at a minimum the retention of the juvenile's criminal record, and
other information relating to his criminal record, in the juvenile's school
disciplinary file, or in some other confidential location, restricting access
to the file and to its contents to school personnel as deemed necessary
and appropriate to meet and adequately address the educational needs of
the juvenile and for the destruction of these records upon the juvenile's
completion of secondary school, or upon reaching twenty-one years of
age."
(128) Section 20-7-3310 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3310. No person shall be committed to an
institution under the control of the Board division who
is seriously handicapped by mental illness or retardation. If, after a
person is referred to the Reception and Evaluation Center, it shall be
determined that he is mentally ill, as defined in S 44-23-10, or mentally
retarded to an extent that he could not be properly cared for in its
custody, the Board director may institute necessary
legal action to accomplish the transfer of such person to such other state
institution as in its judgment is best qualified to care for him in
accordance with the laws of this State. Such legal actions shall be
brought in the resident county of the subject person. The Board
division shall establish standards with regard to the physical
and mental health of persons which it can accept for commitment."
(129) Section 59-51-30 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-51-30. The Wil Lou Gray Opportunity
School is transferred to and incorporated in and shall be
administered within the Division of Children's Services in the
Department of Children's and Family Services under the control
of a board of fourteen trustees, twelve of whom must be elected by the
General Assembly. The trustees so elected must be citizens of
the State who are interested in the aims and ambitions of the school.
The thirteenth member is the State Superintendent of Education, who
shall serve ex officio. The fourteenth member is the Governor who is a
member of the board, ex officio. Members of the board who are elected
by the General Assembly shall serve for terms of four years and until
their successors are elected and qualify. The board shall elect a
chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, and treasurer. In case a vacancy
occurs on the board among the elected members for any reason other
than expiration of a term when the General Assembly is not in session,
the Governor may fill it by appointment until the next session of the
General Assembly at which time a successor must be elected for the
remainder of the unexpired term. Elections to fill vacancies which are
caused for any reason other than expiration of a term may be held earlier
than the first day of April of the year the vacancy is filled.
A quorum of the board is seven members."
(130) Section 59-51-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-51-40. The board of trustees is a body politic,
under the name and style of the Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School. It
shall have a seal, which it may change at its discretion, and in its name,
it The Department of Children's and Family Services may adopt
a seal for the school for use in official business and may contract
for, purchase, and hold property for the purposes provided for in this
chapter. It may take any property or money given or conveyed by deed,
devised, or bequeathed to the school, and hold it for its the
school's benefit and use. The conditions of the gifts or conveyances
in no case may be inconsistent with the purposes of the school, and the
Department board may not by the acceptance thereof
incur any obligation on the part of the State. The Department
It shall securely invest all funds and keep all property which may
come into its possession. It may sue and be sued in its name and
The Department may do all things necessary to carry out the
provisions of this chapter."
(131) Section 59-51-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-51-50. The board of trustees Director
of the Department of Children's and Family Services shall employ
a director who shall serve under conditions as prescribed by the
board to be the executive head of the school. The director
shall recommend and employ all personnel, as approved by the
department director board of trustees, and shall define
their duties. The Department director shall prescribe the
courses of study, and make all rules and regulations for the
government of the school, within board policy, and, through
the department's director for the school, be is responsible for
its the school's operation and management within the
limitations of appropriations provided by the General Assembly."
SECTION 5. Division of Economic Services
(1) Section 20-7-852(c) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(c) Pursuant to Section 43-5-580(b), the Director of
the Department of Children's and Family Services or his
designee shall promulgate regulations which include addressing
child support guidelines. The department Division of
Economic Services shall review these regulations child
support guidelines at least once every four years to insure that their
application results in appropriate child support award amounts."
(2) Section 20-7-952(B)(4) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(4) An authorized agency, including, but not limited to, the
Department of Social Children's and Family Services,
pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 5 of Title 43, and any other person
or agency pursuant to the provisions of Sections 20-7-435 and 20-7-840;
or"
(3) Section 20-7-955(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-955. B. In actions commenced by the
Department of Social Children's and Family Services or
any other authorized agency, any employee of such agency or of the
Attorney General's Office who is familiar with the action may make, on
behalf of the petitioner, the required affidavit accompanying a
settlement, voluntary agreement, or consent order. In cases where the
child is the recipient of public assistance, the affidavit must state:
(1) That the employee is familiar with the particular case involved.
(2) That he has reviewed the case.
(3) That he knows or believes that the Department of Social
Children's and Family Services, in furtherance of state and
federal policies and regulations, has determined the child involved to be
destitute and in need of public assistance due in part to inadequate
support from the respondent.
(4) That the child is presently the recipient of some type of public
assistance in order to maintain a subsistent standard of living."
(4) Section 20-7-970(h) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(h) "Prosecuting attorney" means the circuit
solicitor, county attorney, or attorney designated by the Department of
Social Children's and Family Services pursuant to
Section 43-5-220."
(5) Section 20-7-1015 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1015. If this State is acting as an initiating state
the prosecuting attorney, upon the request of the court, the Department
of Social Children's and Family Services, or other local
welfare official, shall represent the obligee in any proceeding under this
subarticle."
(6) Section 20-7-1040(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(a) The State Department of Social
Children's and Family Services is designated as the state
information agency under this subarticle, and it shall
(1) compile a list of the courts and their addresses in this State
having jurisdiction under this subarticle and transmit it to the state
information agency of every other state which has adopted this or a
substantially similar act. Upon the adjournment of each session of the
legislature the agency shall distribute copies of any amendments to this
subarticle and a statement of their effective date to all other state
information agencies;
(2) maintain a register of lists of courts received from other states
and transmit copies of the lists promptly to every court in this State
having jurisdiction under this subarticle; and
(3) forward to the court in this State which has jurisdiction over
the obligor or his property petitions, certificates, and copies of the act it
receives from courts or information agencies of other states."
(7) Section 20-7-1145 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1145. If the State is acting either as a rendering
or a registering state the prosecuting attorney upon the request of the
court, the Department of Social Children's and Family
Services, or other local welfare official shall represent the obligee in
proceeding under this Part IV."
(8) Section 20-7-1315(D)(3) of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"(3) Where a petition to stay service has been filed a hearing
on the petition must be held within thirty days of its filing. The obligor,
obligee, and Department of Social Children's and
Family Services, Division of Economic Services, where
appropriate, must be notified by the clerk of court of the date, time, and
place of the hearing and the court must decide the matter, notify the
obligor, and enter an order granting or denying relief or amending the
notice of delinquency within forty-five days of the date the notice of
delinquency was mailed to the obligor. If the court finds that a
delinquency existed when the notice of delinquency was mailed, the
court shall order immediate service of the notice to withhold and the
arrearage may be recorded immediately pursuant to Section 20-7-1316.
The court shall inform the obligor of the time frame within which
withholding is to begin and shall provide the obligor in writing with the
information contained in the notice to withhold to be served on the payor
with respect to the withholding."
(9) Section 20-7-1315(G)(2), (4), and (6) of the 1976 Code are
amended to read:
"(2) An obligee who is a recipient of public aid must send a
copy of any notice of delinquency filed pursuant to subsection (C) to the
Division Office of Child Support of the South
Carolina Department of Social Children's and
Family Services, Division of Economic Services.
(4) Upon receiving any other support payment including, but not
limited to, a tax offset under federal or state law or any payment toward
an arrearage, the Department of Social Services Office of
Child Support, Division of Economic Services, within the time
permitted by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, shall provide notice
of the payment to the clerk of court.
(6) The Department of Social Services Division of
Economic Services, Office of Child Support and Office of the Court
Administration shall design suggested legal forms for proceeding under
this section and Section 20-7-1316 and shall make these forms available
to the courts and also informational materials which describe the
procedures and remedies set forth herein for distribution to all parties in
support actions."
(10) Section 20-7-1315(H)(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
(2) If an obligor, obligee, or the Department of Social
Children's and Family Services wilfully initiates a false
proceeding under this section or wilfully fails to comply with the
requirements of this section, punishment for contempt may be imposed.
(11) Section 20-7-1315(J) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(J) The Office of Court Administration after consultation
with the Department of Social Division of Economic
Services is authorized to promulgate those regulations necessary to
implement the provisions of this section."
(12) Section 20-7-1317 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1317. Notwithstanding existing county funds
allocated to the clerks of court, any federal funds earned by the clerks of
court under a contract with the Department of Social
Children's and Family Services pursuant to Title IV-D of the
Social Security Act must first be used by the family court section of the
respective offices of the clerks of court to provide adequate staff and
equipment to implement and operate the provisions of Section
20-7-1315. Thereafter, excess funds shall revert to the general fund of
the county."
(13) Section 20-7-1322(b) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(b) If the obligor seeks a hearing to contest the proposed
income withholding the clerk of court shall immediately notify the
requesting agency and the Department of Social Children's
and Family Services, Division of Economic Services, Office of
Child Support when the request for withholding was from an
agency, the obligee, obligor, or an attorney for either of the date, time,
and place of the hearing and of the obligee's right to attend the
hearing."
(14) Section 20-7-2450 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2450. The State Department
Department of Children's and Family Services, Division of
Economic Services may cooperate with the Federal Government in
the development of plans and policies for aid to dependent children. It
shall administer all funds appropriated or made available for this
purpose."
(15) Section 20-7-2460 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2460. Any person having knowledge that any
child is dependent and that the interest of such child or of the public
requires that such child be granted aid may bring such fact to the
attention of the county department of children's and family
services in the county in which the dependent child has residence
or to the State Department Division of Economic
Services by making application for aid on such blanks as the
State Department division shall prescribe and supply,
furnishing such information as is required thereon and is necessary for
the proper administration of these purposes."
(16) Section 20-7-2470 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2470. The county department of children's
and family services shall make an investigation and examination of
the circumstances of such child. Such investigation and examination
shall be made in accordance with rules prescribed by the State
Department director of the department or his designee. A
report of such investigation and examination shall be made in writing
and shall become a part of the records of the county department of
children's and family services".
(17) Section 20-7-2480 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2480. If such child is found to be in need, the
county department of children's and family services shall grant
such aid as may be necessary for the support of such child in his own
home or in the home of one of his relatives as set forth in this article, in
a manner compatible with decency and health. In case application for
aid for a dependent child is rejected by the county department, appeal
may be made to the State Department as elsewhere provided in this
article Division of Economic Services".
(18) Section 20-7-2500 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2500. Each county department shall prepare, as
required by the State Department Division of Economic
Services, an estimate of the amount needed for dependent children
in its county. Such estimate shall set forth the number of children being
aided, with the amounts of grants to each individual child and such
information or data as is necessary for the State Department
division to estimate the probable increase or decrease during the
next ensuing period. A copy of such estimates from the various county
departments of children's and family services shall be furnished
each member of the legislative delegation of the respective
counties."
(19) Article 1, Chapter 5, Title 43 is amended to read:
"Article 1
Public Aid and Assistance
Section 43-5-10. The There is created in the
Department of Social Children's and Family
Services, the Division of Economic Services which shall be
responsible for maintaining uniformity in the administration of public
welfare throughout the State. The Director of the Department of
Children's and Family Services shall appoint a deputy director for the
Division of Economic Services who only may be dismissed for
cause. The commissioner shall be the only person authorized to
implement the policies as determined by the Board of Social Services.
The commissioner shall issue regulations pursuant to Section 1-23-10 et
seq. whenever changes in federal laws and regulations supersede
existing State statutes. In adopting regulations the commissioner shall
strive for clarity of language which may be readily understood by those
administering aid and by those who apply for or receive aid.
For purposes of this chapter the term `division' means the Division
of Economic Services in the Department of Children's and Family
Services.
Section 43-5-15. Applications for assistance under the provisions of
this chapter shall be made as provided in this chapter and when no such
provision has been made in accordance with the manner and form
prescribed by the department division.
Section 43-5-20. (a) It is the intent of the General Assembly that all
payments of aid to families with dependent children shall be utilized and
managed in such manner as to support the needy child and his eligible
caretaker. Such payments shall include current payments as well as any
portion of past payments returned to a current or former recipient.
(b) Whenever the department division has reason
to believe that any payment of aid to dependent children is not being or
may not be used in the best interests of the child, the department
division shall provide counselling to the recipient and shall
provide that continued failure to so use such payments for three months
after counselling has begun will result in substitution therefor of
protective payments as provided for in Section 43-5-65, the appointment
of a guardian or legal representative as provided in the Federal Social
Security Act or referral to law enforcement officials for appropriate
action.
Section 43-5-25. Any person, other than a needy child, who willfully
and knowingly receives or uses any part of a payment of aid to
dependent children for a purpose other than in the best interest of the
needy children and any eligible caretaker is deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than five
hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than one year or both.
If such misuse occurs, a protective payee will be appointed in
accordance with Section 43-5-65 to manage assistance funds intended
for the otherwise eligible child.
Section 43-5-30. (a) If an overpayment or underpayment is made
under Title IV, Part A, of the Social Security Act (Aid to Families with
Dependent Children Program [AFDC]), the department
division shall make every effort to correct such action in
accordance with this chapter. If the agency decides to terminate benefits
to a client and payments are made pending an appeal of the agency's
decision, these payments must be considered overpayment if the
agency's decision is upheld.
(b) Overpayment means a financial assistance payment received
which exceeds the amount for which the client was eligible.
Underpayment means a financial assistance payment received which is
less than the amount for which the client unit was eligible.
(c) The agency can recover an overpayment by:
(1) receiving a payment from the client, or
(2) by reducing the amount of any future aid payable to the client.
The adjustment in future aid shall not reduce the family's monthly
income to less than ninety percent of the amount payable to a family of
the same composition with no other income. If no payment is made for
a month solely by reason of the recovery of an overpayment, that
individual is still considered a recipient of assistance for that month for
purposes of enrollment date.
(d) If an individual has received an overpayment and does not repay
the agency and is no longer receiving aid so that future payments cannot
be reduced, the agency shall make recovery by taking appropriate action
under the laws of the State against the income or resources of the
individual or family.
(e) Correction of underpayments of assistance must be made to
current recipients and those who would be current recipients if the error
causing the underpayment had not occurred. For the purposes of
determining continued eligibility and amount of assistance, the
retroactive corrective payments are not considered income or a resource
in the month paid nor in the next following month.
Section 43-5-35. Of the net amount collected by the State or any of
its political subdivisions from a recipient of assistance as provided in
Section 43-5-140, such portion of such net amount collected as was
contributed from Federal funds shall be promptly paid to the United
States Government.
Section 43-5-40. Any person who shall, except for purposes directly
connected with the administration of Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7,
9, 19 and 23 or of old age assistance, aid to the blind, aid to
dependent children or general relief and in accordance with the rules and
regulations of the State department division, solicit,
disclose, receive, make use of or authorize, knowingly permit,
participate in or acquiesce in the use of any list or name of or any
information concerning persons applying for or receiving such
assistance, directly or indirectly derived from the records, papers, files
or communications of the State: Department of Children's
and Family Services or county departments of social
children's and family services or acquired in the course of the
performance of official duties, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
shall be punishable therefor by fine or imprisonment, or both.
Section 43-5-45. The department division shall
provide timely and adequate notice in all cases of intended action to
discontinue, terminate, suspend or reduce an assistance grant except in
those cases where adequate notice alone would be consistent with the
requirements of Federal law or regulation.
"Timely notice" means notice which is mailed at least ten
days before the intended change would be effective.
"Adequate notice" means notice which is mailed not later
than the date of action.
Both timely and adequate notice shall include a statement of what
action the agency intends to take, the reasons for the intended action, the
specific regulations or statutes supporting such action, an explanation of
the individual's right to request an administrative hearing on the
propriety of the intended action and the circumstances under which
assistance is continued if a hearing is requested.
Section 43-5-50. In the event that a recipient of aid to families with
dependent children does not receive an assistance check, or if such
check is lost, stolen or destroyed after receipt but before it is cashed, the
county office may authorize a one-time grant in the amount of the
original check provided the recipient files an affidavit, under penalty of
perjury, stating the facts of the loss, theft, destruction or nonreceipt of
the check and setting forth all material facts relative to its loss, theft,
destruction or nonreceipt. The affidavit shall further witness the
recipient's understanding of his obligation, should the lost, stolen,
destroyed or nonreceived check come into his possession, to return such
check immediately to the County Office and that cashing or attempting
to cash such check constitutes fraud.
Section 43-5-55. Two copies of all reports required by the National
Center for Social Statistics of the Department of Health, Education and
Welfare shall be furnished to each house of the General Assembly when
they are submitted to the Federal Government.
Section 43-5-60. All assistance granted under Chapters 1, 3, 5,
and 7, 9, 19 and 23 shall be deemed to be granted and
to be held subject to the provisions of any amending or repealing act that
may be passed and no recipient shall have any claim for compensation,
or otherwise, by reason of his assistance being affected in any way by an
amending or repealing act, nor shall he have any claim against the State
for any failure upon the part of the General Assembly in any year to
appropriate sufficient funds to pay grants previously made.
Section 43-5-65. (a) As a condition of eligibility, a needy family
applying for aid to families with dependent children shall complete a
certificate of eligibility containing a written declaration of such
information as may be required to establish eligibility and amount of aid.
The certificate shall include blanks, wherein shall be stated the names,
birth dates, and Social Security numbers of all children receiving aid,
their present place of residence, the names and Social Security numbers
of the adult or emancipated minor applicant, the name and Social
Security number and present whereabouts, last known address and place
of employment of a parent who is not living in the home, any income
received through employment, from the absent parent, governmental
social insurance or aid programs, gifts, sale of real or personal property,
interest, dividends, or from any other source, and any interest in
property, real or personal. The department division
shall provide assistance as needed to complete the certificate and shall
insure that all applicants or recipients have or promptly apply for and
obtain a Social Security number. No assistance shall be granted to Aid
to Families for Dependent Children applicants or recipients until a valid
Social Security number has been provided to the department
division for each member of the family for whom aid is sought
or when numbers are not available until there is proof that application
for the Social Security number has been made. The department
division shall assist the applicant or recipient in obtaining a
Social Security number through procedures adopted in cooperation with
the Social Security Administration or the applicant or recipient may
apply for a Social Security number at the Social Security Administration
office. For purposes of Aid to Families for Dependent Children Foster
Care, the application for the Social Security number shall be made by
the State Department of Children's and Family Services
or local the county department of children's and
family services. The certificate of eligibility shall also provide that,
as a condition of eligibility for aid, each applicant or recipient shall:
(1) Assign to the State any rights to support from any other person
the applicant may have in his own behalf or in behalf of any other family
member for whom the applicant is applying for or receiving aid and
which have accrued at the time the assignment is executed or which may
accrue in the future; provided, that by accepting public assistance for or
on behalf of a child or children, or by making application for services
under Title IV-D, or through placement of a child or children in state
funded foster care or under Title IV-E, except where good cause as
determined by the agency exists, the recipient or applicant is considered
to have made an assignment to the State Department of
Social Children's and Family Services of any rights,
title, and interest to any support obligation which is owed for the child
or children or for the absent parent's spouse or former spouse who is the
recipient or the applicant with whom the child is living, if and to the
extent that a spousal support obligation has been established and the
child support obligation is being enforced pursuant to Title IV-D of the
federal Social Security Act. The assignment to the department
division is considered to have been made up to the amount of
public assistance money or foster care board payments paid for or on
behalf of the child or children for that period of time as the public
assistance monies or foster care board payments are paid. The
assignment shall consist of all rights and interest in any support
obligation that the recipient may be owed past, present, or future by any
person up to the amount of public assistance money paid to the recipient
for or on behalf of the minor child or children or a child in foster care.
The department division is subrogated to the rights of
the child or children or the person having custody of the child or
children to collect and receive all support payments. The
department division has the right to initiate any support
action in its own name or in the name of the recipient to recover any
payments ordered by the courts of this or any other state or to obtain a
court order to initiate these payments including an action to determine
the paternity of a child.
(2) cooperate with the State in establishing the paternity of a child
born out of wedlock with respect to whom aid is claimed and in
obtaining support payments for such applicant and for a child with
respect to whom such aid is claimed, or in obtaining any other payments
or property due such applicant of such child and that, if the relative with
whom a child is living is found to be ineligible because of failure to
comply with the requirements of items (1) and (2), any aid for which
such child is eligible will be provided in the form of protective
payments. The department division shall establish
criteria in accordance with federal regulations to determine whether
action to establish paternity and secure support is not in the best interest
of a child.
(b) The term "protective payments" shall mean
payments with respect to any dependent child which are made to another
individual who, as determined in accordance with standards prescribed
by the department division, is interested in or concerned
with the welfare of such child or relative, or are made on behalf of such
child or relative directly to a person furnishing food, living
accommodations, or other goods, services or items to or for such child.
(c) Prior to determinations of eligibility, the department
division shall conduct a personal interview with the adult
members of the family or with the caretaker relatives of the needy
children.
(d) Except as otherwise provided by federal law, the
department division shall redetermine all elements of
eligibility periodically but not less frequently than every six months.
The department division shall require the family to
complete a new certificate of eligibility form at the time of each
redetermination.the best interest of a child.
(e) If the certificate is mailed to the family, it must be accompanied
by an addressed envelope for its return. In no event may the acts of
mailing to the recipient or the recipient's return of a completed certificate
to the department division be substituted in lieu of a
personal interview. In the event the certificate is not completed and
returned within ten days after it is mailed or personally delivered to the
family, contact must be made with the family and the certificate shall
then be completed with the assistance of the department
division if necessary. If there is a refusal to cooperate in
completing the certificate, aid is denied or terminated consistent with
appropriate notice requirements. In all cases where assistance is
withheld or terminated for the above reason, the department
division shall investigate the welfare of any dependent child
affected and, if necessary, the department division shall
take action on behalf of the child.
(f) Each adult member of the family shall provide, under penalty of
perjury the information necessary to complete the certificate. The
certificates used by the department division shall
contain at the end in large type a statement in a form approved by the
Attorney General that the applicant or recipient understands that he has
an obligation to report immediately to the department
division any changes in income or resources, composition of
household, address, or any other factor which may affect eligibility and
that the declarations in the certificate are correct and complete to the
best of the applicant's or recipient's knowledge or belief and are made
under penalty of perjury. The statement shall clearly specify that failure
to report changes in circumstances that may affect eligibility and grant
amount within ten calendar days of the day on which the change
becomes known to the recipient constitutes withholding of information
and permits the department division to recover any
overpayment occasioned or caused by the withholding in accordance
with Section 43-5-30. This application must be signed by the applicant
or recipient of assistance or any person completing the application for
an applicant or recipient unable to do so himself. The person completing
the application for an applicant or recipient unable to do so himself must
sign a statement attesting to the fact that this section has been explained
to the applicant and to the belief that the applicant understands.
Section 43-5-70. The department division shall
require that all persons applying for assistance shall provide acceptable
identification and proof of residence and the department
division shall by regulation specify what constitutes adequate
identification and proof of residence. The department
division shall require that all reports of employment or income
be verified by letter or direct contact with the employer of the applicant
or recipient and if the verification is made by letter, a stamped
self-addressed envelope shall be enclosed and request for prompt return
shall be made. The department division shall verify all
other information related to the eligibility in any case in which there is
reason to believe that the applicant has falsified, misrepresented or
omitted any material facts such as age and number of children, real and
personal property, including bank accounts and insurance policies or any
other resources. No person shall be eligible for aid to families with
dependent children unless he is a resident of the State.
If a recipient is or will be absent from the State for a period of thirty
days or longer, the Agency shall ascertain the intent of the recipient
regarding residence.
It is not the intent of the General Assembly in enacting this section to
create any durational residence requirement.
Section 43-5-75. The commissioner director of the
Department of Children's and Family Services or his authorized
agent may, after signed authorization from the applicant or recipient,
request and receive from any bank or other financial institution doing
business in South Carolina information with respect to the transaction
with any such institution of any applicant for or recipient of any form of
aid or relief under this article and it shall be the duty of the officers and
employees of such institution to furnish the information within ten
working days to the department division pursuant to the
written request of the commissioner director.
Section 43-5-85. The department division shall,
within thirty days from the end of each quarter transmit to the
Employment Security Commission the Social Security numbers of all
persons sixteen years of age or older who are not in school who received
aid to families with dependent children during the second prior quarter.
The Employment Security Commission shall determine the amount of
wages reported by employers or the amount of unemployment
compensation insurance benefits which have been paid during the
second and third prior quarters to persons with those Social Security
numbers and the commission shall return such information, including
zero wages reports, to the department division. The
department division shall transmit such wage reports to
its county offices for comparison with earnings reported by recipients.
County offices shall take prompt action to resolve discrepancies and
shall refer promptly cases of suspect fraud for investigation.
Section 43-5-90. Aid shall be granted under the provisions of this
section and, subject to the regulations of the department
division, to needy families with dependent children under the
age of eighteen, except as provided in Section 43-5-95, in need thereof
because they have been deprived of parental support or care due to:
(1) The death, physical or mental incapacity or incarceration of a
parent; or
(2) The divorce, separation or desertion of a parent and resultant
continued absence of a parent from the home for these and other reasons.
Section 43-5-95. Aid may be granted under the provisions of this
section to or in behalf of an eligible child over the age of eighteen, if he
is a full-time student in a secondary school, or in the equivalent level of
vocational or technical training, and reasonably expected to complete the
program before reaching age nineteen.
Section 43-5-100. For the purpose of determining eligibility for aid
to dependent children on the basis of incapacity of a parent, pursuant to
Section 43-5-90, physical or mental incapacity shall be deemed to exist
when:
(1) The incapacity is of such a debilitating nature as to reduce
substantially the parent's ability to support or care for the otherwise
eligible child;
(2) The incapacity is verified by a medical doctor or psychiatrist,
except that eligibility for supplemental security income benefits under
Title XVI of the Federal Social Security Act on the basis of disability or
eligibility to receive Federal OASDI benefits shall be considered
sufficient evidence of incapacity for purposes of this section
(3) The incapacity is expected to continue for a period of at least
thirty days.
The determination of incapacity in accordance with provisions set
forth herein is a responsibility of the county office under the supervision
of the department division. Certification shall only be
for that period during which the incapacity is expected to continue.
Section 43-5-105. In any case in which application for aid to
families with dependent children is based upon deprivation of parental
support or care due to the continued absence of a parent from the home,
such deprivation shall be deemed to exist when the nature of the absence
for any reason interrupts or terminates the parent's functioning as a
provider of maintenance, physical care or guidance for the child and the
known or indefinite duration of the absence precludes continuing the
parent's performance of his function in planning for the support or care
of the child. Absence, in and of itself, shall not be deemed to constitute
deprivation.
It shall be the duty of the department division to
verify the continued absence of the parent from the home. Such absence
shall be verified from information regarding the absent parent supplied
by the applicant on his certificate of eligibility or by requiring the
applicant to provide, where known, the name, Social Security number,
description, employer and present or last known address of the absent
parent.
Section 43-5-110. (a) In any case in which eligibility for aid to
dependent children is based upon deprivation due to the absence of a
parent from the home, the applicant or recipient shall at the time of
application and at the time of redetermination of eligibility certify to the
best of his knowledge and belief whether the applicant's or recipient's
spouse, or any other person legally responsible for the children is
claiming to furnish support to the eligible dependent children for
purposes of federal or state income tax.
(b) If the applicant or recipient fails or refuses to provide the
information required under subsection (a), such action shall be deemed
a failure or refusal to cooperate in obtaining support and such person
shall be denied eligibility without regard to other eligibility factors. If
the relative with whom a child is living is found to be ineligible for
assistance because of failure to comply with the requirements of
subsection (a), any aid for which such child is eligible will be provided
in the form of protective payments as defined in Section 43-5-65 (b).
The department division shall initiate an investigation
in any case where there is reason to suspect the occurrence of fraud.
(c) The department division shall cooperate and
exchange information with state and federal income tax authorities in all
appropriate cases.
Section 43-5-115. In the case of an employed applicant or recipient
who resides with his children who receive aid to families with dependent
children, such recipient or applicant shall be informed of his right to
claim the maximum number of exemptions for federal income tax
purposes to which he is entitled under federal law. Thirty days after
such notification is given, such recipient or applicant shall be considered
to be claiming the maximum number of exemptions and any earned
income shall be computed accordingly. The department
division shall maintain tables that indicate the amount of
withholding for various numbers of dependents and various income
levels. The department division shall determine the
maximum number of exemptions to which the applicant or recipient is
entitled and shall base withholding on this maximum number of
exemptions. This determination shall be made at the time of application
and at the time of the periodic redetermination of eligibility and when
changes in a recipient's circumstances require that the amount of
withholding be redetermined.
Section 43-5-120. (a) The Tax Commission shall provide the
commissioner or his designees an abstract of the income tax return
requested, or provide information concerning any item of income or
expense, including support claimed to have been provided to dependent
children or step-children, contained in the income tax return or disclosed
by any investigation of the income or return of the applicant or recipient.
(b) The information obtained pursuant to this section shall be used
or disclosed only for the purpose of enabling the department
division to verify or determine the eligibility of an applicant or
recipient or to enable the Tax Commission to determine whether tax
fraud has been committed.
(c) The applicant or recipient whose income tax records have been
requested from the Tax Commission shall be notified by mail that such
request has been made at the time of the request.
(d) Any violation or suspected violation of state or federal law
determined under this section shall be referred to the appropriate state
or federal law enforcement authorities.
(e) The commissioner or his designees shall be subject to the
provisions of Section 12-7-1680 of the 1976 Code regarding the
confidentiality of state income tax records.
Section 43-5-125. The term "living with" means that the
caretaker relative and the child maintain a common place of residence.
The requirement shall be considered met if a home and family setting is
maintained or is being established and the caretaker relative exercises
responsibility for the care and control of the child even though the child
or caretaker is temporarily absent from time to time. A child is
considered to be "living with" the caretaker relative even
though he is under the jurisdiction of the court or is in the legal custody
of an agency that does not have physical possession of the child.
Temporary absences from the home for purposes such as vacationing,
visiting, hospitalization, convalescing and school attendance shall not
constitute a break in the "living with" requirement.
Section 43-5-130. (a) Except as otherwise required by federal law,
the department division shall, in determining need, take
into consideration any income or resources of any child or relative
claiming aid to families with dependent children, whose needs the
department division determines would be considered in
determining the need of a child or relative claiming such aid, as well as
any expense reasonably attributed to the earning of any such income.
(b) Income, as used in subsection (a), includes any benefit in cash
which is in fact currently available to the individual or is received by
him as a result of current or past labor or service, or business activities.
(c) To be considered in determining eligibility for, and amount of
grant, income must, in fact, be currently available to the applicant or
recipient. However, the applicant or recipient shall, as a necessary
condition of determining eligibility:
(1)Provide all information necessary to income determination.
(2) Take all actions necessary to obtain unconditionally available
income. Income shall be considered unconditionally available if the
applicant or recipient has only to claim or accept such income, including
any type of governmental benefits, social insurance and private pension
or benefits plan.
(d) The department division shall require evidence
which establishes the gross and net amount of income received and the
time and frequency of receipt. Documents and records in the possession
of the applicant or recipient together with a written statement made
under penalty of perjury that such information is correct and complete
to the best of the applicant or recipient's knowledge or belief constitute
adequate sources of evidence in absence of conflicts. Such documents
or records shall be returned promptly to the applicant or recipient after
necessary copies have been made and placed in the case records.
Section 43-5-140. (a) It shall be the duty of the department
division to insure that every applicant for or recipient of aid to
families with dependent children be informed not less frequently than
semiannually as to the provisions of eligibility and his responsibility for
reporting all facts material to a correct determination of eligibility and
amount of grant. After such information has been provided, the
department division shall require the recipient and
caseworker to execute a formal acknowledgement, on a form prescribed
for such purpose, describing what steps were taken to explain the
eligibility and reporting requirements to the recipient and that such
explanation was understood by the recipient.
(b) Each applicant for or recipient or payee of such aid to families
with dependent children shall be responsible to report accurately and
completely, with his competence, those facts required of him, pursuant
to the explanation provided by the department division.
(c) The failure of an applicant or recipient to report facts which may
affect eligibility and grant determination within ten days of the date
upon which the applicant or recipient became aware of such facts shall
constitute a willful withholding of such information and permit the
department division to recover any overpayment
occasioned or caused by the willful withholding. Such facts may
include but are not limited to composition of household, address or any
other factor which may affect eligibility, or failure or refusal to obtain
unconditionally available income. If appropriate, recoupment
proceedings may be initiated,
(d) When the department division receives
information that would result in a change in grant amount or eligibility,
the department division shall take action to adjust the
grant or redetermine eligibility, consistent with notice requirements,
within ten days of receipt of such information.
Section 43-5-145. Investigation of each application shall be made
by the county departments as provided in Chapters 1, 3, 5, and
7, 9, 19 and 23 or as required by the State department
division.
Section 43-5-148. Provided the eligible applicant is alive on the date
the application is approved, assistance begins on the earlier of the two
following dates:
(a) the date the award is authorized if that date is in the same month
as the month of application; or
(b) the first day of the month in which the thirtieth day from the date
of receipt of a completed and signed application falls.
Section 43-5-150. In the event an application is denied or the
amount or terms of a grant or of any withdrawal or modification thereof
be deemed inadequate or unjust by the applicant or recipient, the
applicant or recipient or anyone acting in his behalf may demand a
review of his case before the department division by
filing his written request for such review with the county department not
more than sixty days after notice of its action shall have been received.
The county department shall, within ten days, certify its records and data
on the case and such additional information as it deems relevant to the
department division. The department
division shall promptly grant to the applicant or recipient an
opportunity for a fair hearing upon the questions raised by the applicant
or recipient. At this hearing any party in interest may appear and present
any relevant facts. The department division shall
produce such further evidence as it may deem necessary and shall certify
its findings and decision on the case back to the county department
concerned and such findings and award shall thereupon become final
and effective as of such date as the department shall fix.
Appeals from the decision of the department may be made to an
administrative law judge pursuant to the Administrative Procedures
Act.
Section 43-5-155. If an application is not acted upon by the county
department within the time limitations specified in Section 43-5-148 the
applicant may appeal to the State department division
in the manner and form prescribed in Section 43-5-150.
Section 43-5-160. The State department division
may also, upon its own motion or at the request of the applicant, review
any decision of a county department and may consider any application
upon which a decision has not been made by the county department
within a reasonable time.
Section 43-5-165. Upon any appeal under Section 43-5-150 or any
review under Section 43-5-160, the State department
division may make such additional investigation as it may deem
necessary and shall make such decision as to the granting of assistance
and the amount of assistance to be granted the applicant as in its opinion
is justified and in conformity with the provisions of Chapters 1, 3, 5,
and 7, 9, 19 and 23. As to any action taken by the
State department division under this section, the
State department division shall grant the applicant or
recipient an opportunity for a fair hearing as provided under Section
43-5-150.
Section 43-5-170. The department Director of the
Department of Children's and Family Services may issue subpoenas
for witnesses and compel their attendance and the production of papers
and writings and the commissioner director and
employees designated by him may administer oaths and examine
witnesses under oath.
Section 43-5-175. All decisions of the State department
division shall be binding upon the county department involved
and shall be complied with by such county department.
Section 43-5-180. No person shall make any charge or receive any
fee for representing the applicant or recipient of assistance in connection
with the granting of any assistance provided for in Chapters 1, 3, 5,
and 7, 9, 19 and 23, except as to criminal proceedings
and except upon appeal to the department division, and
then only in a reasonable amount and subject to the regulations of the
department.
Section 43-5-185. Any public officer not charged with the
administration of Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19 and 23
who attempts to influence a decision of the county department or
State the department division
respecting the application of any person for assistance or respecting the
assistance to be paid or being paid shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred
dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, in the
discretion of the court. The giving of information within the personal
knowledge of such officer, in writing, shall not constitute an offense
under this section.
Section 43-5-190. All amounts paid or payable as assistance shall
be exempt from any tax levied by the State or any subdivision thereof,
shall be exempt from levy and sale, attachment or any other process
whatsoever and shall be inalienable and unassignable in advance in any
form and, in case of bankruptcy, shall not pass to the trustee or other
person acting on behalf of the creditors of the recipient of assistance.
Section 43-5-195. If an applicant or recipient shall be found by the
county department to be incapable of taking care of himself or his
money or if, in the judgment of the county department, his interest will
be best served, the State department division or one
designated by it may apply to the probate court of the county in which
such applicant or recipient lives for the appointment of a guardian to
whom the payments of assistance granted shall be made for the benefit
of the applicant or recipient, and such guardian shall file a copy of his
return with the county department, as well as the probate judge, as
required by law, and such other reports as the county department shall
require. The respective probate judges shall perform all necessary duties
in connection with such guardianship without charging any fees, costs
or commissions.
Section 43-5-200. When a recipient dies after issuance but before
delivery or negotiation of his assistance check for the month in which
his death occurs, endorsement of such check without recourse by the
county director of social children's and family services
to the "spouse or nearest living relative" of the recipient
shall be sufficient authority to the drawee bank to pay such check.
Section 43-5-210. (a) Every individual, as a condition of initial
and continuing eligibility for aid to families with dependent children
(WIN) shall register with the Employment Security Commission for
employment, training and manpower services, unless such individual is:
(1) A child who is attending school or college on a full-time basis
or who is under the age of sixteen.
(2) Ill, incapacitated or of advanced age.
(3) So remote from an Employment Security Commission office
that effective participation in employment and training counseling is
precluded.
(4) Required to be present in the home because of illness or
incapacity of another member of the household.
(5) The mother or other relative of a child under the age of six
who is caring for the child.
(6) The mother or other caretaker of a child if the father or
another adult male relative is in the home and not excluded from the
requirement to register, unless such adult male relative has failed to
register as herein required or has refused without good cause to accept
employment or to participate in work experience or training.
(7) Actively participating in the Federal Work Incentive Program
or was certified to such program within the previous six months.
(b) Registration shall include a personal interview conducted by the
Employment Security Commission. A work application shall be
completed, a self-support plan shall be developed and the individual's
job search and reporting responsibilities shall be fully explained. If
employment is available, the commission shall immediately refer the
individual to such employment.
(c) Any person excluded from the requirements of registration by
reason of subsection (a) of this section may voluntarily register to
participate in the South Carolina Employable Program. The
department division shall encourage participation in this
program.
(d) As a part of complying with the requirements set forth in this
section, each registrant shall be assisted in conducting an adequate job
search in accordance with the instructions of the Employment Security
Commission. Every person registered pursuant to this section, other
than persons who have been certified to the Federal Work Incentive
Program and are actively participating in a work incentive component,
shall report in writing on a form prescribed by the Employment Security
Commission on the nature, extent and results of his job search efforts.
The bureau shall notify each employable person of the reporting
requirement and shall provide necessary copies of the report form.
(e) To the extent permitted by federal law, any person who fails
without good cause to fulfill his job search requirements shall be
ineligible for aid to families with dependent children. If such person is
the sole eligible dependent child in the family, the family shall be
ineligible for aid to families with dependent children.
(f) No person registered pursuant to subsection (a) of this section
shall refuse to accept a bona fide offer of employment or training. The
bona fide offer of employment, training or work experience must be
consistent with the person's physical, mental and emotional capabilities,
and to the extent feasible to previously acquired occupational skills. In
order to be a bona fide offer of employment, there must be reasonable
assurances that:
(1) Appropriate standards for the health, safety and other
conditions applicable to the performance of work and training in the
employment are established and will be maintained.
(2) The offer of employment will not result in a displacement of
employed workers.
(3) The wages will be no less than three-fourths of the federal
minimum wage.
(g) Any person required to register pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section who fails to register or fulfill his reporting responsibilities
required by subsection (d) or refuses a bona fide offer of employment or
training in violation of subsection (f) shall be ineligible for aid to
families with dependent children. Any aid for which such child is
eligible will be provided in the form of protective payment as defined in
Section 43-5-65(b).
Section 43-5-215. To the extent permitted by federal law, the
Employment Security Commission shall develop and implement a
demonstration program of work experience. The Employment Security
Commission and the department division shall take all
appropriate and necessary measures to obtain federal approval and
assistance for this demonstration program.
The Employment Security Commission shall develop a plan for the
phased implementation of work experience programs, designating
specific geographic areas, consisting of counties or portions of counties
within which work experience programs shall be established. The
commission shall develop work experience programs through contracts
with public entities or with nonprofit agencies or organizations, subject
to the conditions and standards hereinafter set forth.
For the purpose of this section, "work experience" is a
program to provide work experience and training for individuals who are
not otherwise able to obtain employment or are not actively participating
in training or education programs in order that such individuals may
move into regular employment. Work experience programs shall be
designed to develop employability through actual work experience. The
facilities of the Employment Security Commission shall be utilized to
find permanent employment opportunities for participants upon
completion of this program. Work experience programs under this
section shall be confined to projects which serve a useful public purpose
such as in the fields of health, social service, environmental protection,
education, urban and rural development and redevelopment, welfare,
recreation, public facilities, public safety and energy conservation. To
the extent feasible, the prior training, experience and skills of a
participant shall be utilized in making appropriate work experience
assignments.
The Employment Security Commission shall designate the procedures
for inclusion of recipients of aid to families with dependent children. No
person exempted from registration by the provisions of Section 43-5-210
shall be required to participate in a work experience program.
Section 43-5-220. (a) Every approved applicant for aid to families
with dependent children whose eligibility is based on deprivation due to
absence of a parent from the home shall at the time of approval for aid
to families with dependent children be immediately referred to the
designated support official of the department division.
The department division shall be responsible for taking
all steps necessary to identify, locate, and obtain support payments from
absent parents.
(b) The department division shall establish a scale
of suggested minimum contributions to assist courts in determining the
amount that an absent parent should be expected to pay toward the
support of a dependent child. The scale shall include consideration of
gross income, shall authorize expense deductions including deductions
for taxes for determining net income, shall designate other available
resources to be considered and shall specify the circumstances which
should be considered in reducing liability on the basis of hardship.
Copies of this scale shall be made available to courts, county attorneys,
circuit solicitors and to the public. It is intended that the scale
formulated pursuant to this section be optional, and that no court or
support official be required to use it.
(c) In all cases in which the whereabouts of the absent parent is
known, the department division shall, immediately upon
approval of the application for assistance, notify the absent parent of the
filing of the application and of his responsibility to complete and return
a written statement of his current monthly income, his total income over
the past twelve months, a description of real and personal property
owned by him, together with an estimate of its value, the number of
dependents for whom he is providing support, the amount he is
contributing regularly toward the support of all children for whom
application for aid to families with dependent children has been made,
his Social Security number, his itemized monthly living expenses and
such other information as the department division
determines to be pertinent in determining his ability to support his
children.
The absent parent shall complete and return such statement to the
department division within ten days after notification by
the department division. The department
division may request the absent parent to report for a personal
interview.
If the absent parent statement is not completed within ten days after
notification, the department division shall cause prompt
personal service to be made. If the written statement is not completed
and returned within ten days after personal service, the
department division shall immediately refer the matter
for prosecution for nonsupport.
(d) When the department division has obtained
sufficient information concerning the absent parent, it shall immediately
determine his ability to support his children and shall obtain a court
order specifying an appropriate amount of support in accordance with
the scale of suggested minimum contributions as provided in subsection
(b). If the absent parent is residing out of the county, but within the
State, and his whereabouts is known, the department
division shall obtain the court order in the court of competent
jurisdiction as set forth in Section 14-21-830. Court orders of support
shall in all cases specify that the payment of support shall be made
directly to the department division as reimbursement for
assistance and not to the spouse of the absent parent. The support rights
assigned to the State shall constitute an obligation owed to the State by
the individual responsible for providing such support. Such obligation
shall be deemed for collection purposes to be collectible under all
applicable state and local processes. The amount of such obligations
shall be:
(1) The amount specified in a court order which covers the
assigned support rights;
(2) If there is no court order, an amount determined by the State
in accordance with a formula approved by subsection (b);
(3) Any amounts collected from an absent parent under the plan
shall reduce, dollar for dollar, the amount of his obligation. A debt
which is a child support obligation assigned to the department
division under this section is not released by a discharge in
bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Act.
(e) Failure of the absent parent to comply with his support
obligation shall be referred to the court having jurisdiction of the matter
for appropriate proceedings.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to relieve the
department division from complying with the provisions
of Section 402 (a) (11) of the Social Security Act.
(g) Material falsification of information on the statement provided
pursuant to subsection (d) shall constitute a misdemeanor.
(h) In the case of an individual not otherwise eligible for collection
services, a fee may be imposed in accordance with federal law,
regulations, and guidelines.
(i) The department division may submit to the State
Tax Commission for collection and setoff any debt for past-due support
owed to the department division or owed to an
individual not otherwise eligible for collection services who has made
application to the department division. The debt for
past-due support must be at least sixty days in arrears and is in excess of
twenty-five dollars as provided in Section 12-7-2240. At the time of the
submission, the department division shall notify the
debtor that his state tax refund will be subject to a debt for past-due
support. The notice shall set forth the name of the debtor, the amount
of the claimed debt, the intention to set off the refund against the debt,
the taxpayer's opportunity to give written notice to contest the setoff
within thirty days of the date of mailing of the notice, the appropriate
office of the department division to which the
application for a hearing must be sent, and the fact that failure to apply
for a hearing in writing within the thirty-day period will be considered
a waiver of the opportunity to contest the setoff. If the debtor makes
written application to contest the setoff within thirty days of notification,
the department division shall provide an opportunity for
a hearing and is responsible for refunding any monies wrongfully
collected. If no application is made, the debtor's refund must be used to
set off the amount owed. From the amount transferred from the
commission, the department division shall reimburse the
commission for expenses incurred in administering this program. In the
case of an individual not otherwise eligible for collection services, a fee
must be imposed by the department division to cover all
costs. The department division shall request that the
commission send to the department division notice of
the home address, corrected social security number, or additional social
security numbers, if more than one is used, of any taxpayer whose name
is submitted to the commission under this subsection.
Section 43-5-225. (a) A central registry of records shall be
maintained in the department division showing as far as
it is known with respect to any parent who has deserted or abandoned
any child receiving aid to families with dependent children:
(1) The full and true name of such parent together with any
known aliases.
(2) Date and place of birth.
(3) Physical description.
(4) Social Security number.
(5) Occupation and any special skills he may have.
(6) Military status and Veterans Administration or military service
serial number.
(7) Last known address and the date thereof.
(8) Number of the driver's license.
(9) Any further information that may be of assistance in locating
the person.
(b) To effectuate the purposes of this section, the department
division shall request from all department
divisions, commissions, boards or other agencies of the State or
any of its political subdivisions such assistance and data as will enable
the department division and other public agencies to
carry out their duties to locate deserting parents and to enforce their
liability for the support of their children. The department
division shall utilize the "Parent Locator Service"
pursuant to establishment in the Department of Health, Education and
Welfare by filing in accordance with Section 453(b) of the Social
Security Act.
(c) Any records established pursuant to the provisions of this section
shall be available only to public welfare offices, county attorneys, circuit
solicitors, probation department divisions, the Attorney
General, central registries in other states and courts having jurisdiction
in support or abandonment proceedings or action and only for the
purposes for which the records have been established.
Section 43-5-230. There is hereby created in the office of the State
Treasurer a revolving fund to be designated as the Public Welfare
Cooperative Support Program Fund which shall be used by the
department division in carrying out such purposes as it
deems necessary. All moneys in the funds are hereby appropriated to
the department division for such purposes and shall be
paid without further appropriation under requisition or voucher drawn
on the State Treasurer in the usual manner.
Section 43-5-235. (a) To the extent permitted by federal law, the
department division may enter into annual agreements
with county governments, circuit solicitors, sheriffs, and the circuit court
having jurisdiction in that county to reimburse the appropriate
contracting entity for a portion of the cost of developing and
implementing a child support collection and paternity determination
program for:
(1) securing support for persons receiving state public assistance
and reimbursement of medical assistance from the legally responsible
spouse or parent of assistance recipients;
(2) establishing paternity of children born out of wedlock who are
receiving aid to families with dependent children and to secure support
for them;
(3) all children who have sought assistance in securing support
whether or not they are eligible for aid to families with dependent
children and regardless of the economic circumstances. To the extent
permitted by federal law, a fiscal incentive must be paid to the
department division and provided to counties for
collection and enforcement of absent parent support obligations. These
monies must be paid to the contracting entity on a monthly basis and
earmarked by the contracting entity for the exclusive use for all activities
related to the establishment, collection, and enforcement of child support
obligations for the fiscal year in which the payments are earned. Monies
paid to the contracting entity pursuant to this section may not be used to
replace operating funds for the county clerk of court's budget. Excess
funds not utilized by the contracting entity for child support activities
revert to the general fund of the county. Each local entity shall enter
into a support enforcement agreement with the department
division as a condition to receiving the fiscal incentive. To the
extent that fiscal incentives are paid to the department
division and are not owed under the agreement to the
contracting entity, these fiscal incentives must be reinvested in the
department division's Child Support Enforcement
Program to increase collections of support at the state and county levels
in a manner consistent with the federal laws and regulations governing
incentive payments;
(4) enabling the State to increase the monthly amount of direct
benefits to recipients of aid to families with dependent children.
(b) In any cooperative support program agreement entered into
pursuant to this section, the department division, subject
to general conditions adopted and stated in the agreement by the
department division to comply with State and federal
law and regulations and which will reasonably achieve the objectives of
this section and made applicable to all contracting entities, may agree to
reimburse the contracting entity in an amount up to ninety percent of the
total expenditures made or costs incurred during the period of the
agreement in the implementation of a support enforcement program
developed jointly with the department division to
provide improved services by the court for the benefit of children and
other persons receiving aid to families with dependent children from the
department division. For every one dollar spent in
administrative costs, seventy-five percent shall be paid by the federal
government, fifteen percent by the State and ten percent by the county.
Expenses for improvement of family court services shall include those
costs specified in a plan approved by the department
division and incurred by the contracting entity during the period
of the agreement for required equipment, for salary and travel costs of
a director, other personnel and supporting clerical staff assigned on a
full-time basis who are engaged in developing, planning, evaluating and
implementing support collection services for persons receiving aid for
families with dependent children.
(c) Services which may be included in the department
division's reimbursement agreement may include assistance in
the location and apprehension of deserting or putative fathers; conferring
and planning with deserting or putative fathers or spouses; investigating
and assessing ability to pay and current earning capacity of the legally
responsible relatives; developing voluntary support or determining
appropriate actions; preparing and filing and presenting to the court
necessary support complaints or petitions on behalf of the assistance
recipients and the department division; preparing and
conducting the hearings on support complaints and petitions; and such
additional measures for the protection of families of persons receiving
aid to families with dependent children and of the public which the
department division and the other parties to the
agreement may find desirable to undertake cooperatively.
(d) Pursuant to annual agreements specified in subsection (a) related
costs of equipment used for, and of staff performing services other than
services for the benefit of persons receiving aid to families with
dependent children shall be reimbursable to the extent that such costs
represent that portion of the equipment use-time or staff members time
utilized in supplying or supporting services to persons receiving aid to
families with dependent children in paternity, desertion and support
cases. In the allocation of reimbursable costs in providing services to
persons receiving public assistance under its program agreements, the
department division may adopt a formula which will
reasonably achieve the objectives of this section while qualifying South
Carolina expenditures under the program for any reimbursement
available under federal law.
Section 43-5-240. Any county desiring to obtain the benefits of
appropriations from the Public Welfare Support Reimbursement Fund
shall secure the formal joinder of the circuit solicitor and of the court
having jurisdiction of support cases in that county in a joint plan and a
cooperative support program agreement with the department
division and the execution of a cooperative support program
agreement with the department division. The execution
of such agreement is hereby authorized.
Section 43-5-245. (a) The department Director of the
Department of Children's and Family Services or his designee shall
prescribe the time at and the form on which the counties and judicial
districts shall submit to the department division annual
plans for the total staff and equipment needs and annual estimates of the
expenditures of the county for the staffing and operations of the child
support program for the coming agreement year.
(b) Upon approval of an annual plan and the estimated expenditures
for an improved program the department director shall
enter into a contract pursuant to Section 43-5-235.
Section 43-5-255. (a) Funds derived from savings, and to the
extent necessary additional general funds, shall be utilized to increase
the direct monthly payments to Aid to Families with Dependent Children
recipients so that beginning on July 1, 1978, each eligible individual
shall receive an additional benefit of one dollar and sixty-five cents per
month.
(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit increases in excess of that
described in subsection (a)."
(20) Article 3, Chapter 5, Title 43 of the 1976 Code is amended to
Read:
"Article 3
General Relief
Section 43-5-310. General assistance in the form of money
payments shall be granted by the State department Division
of Economic Services to handicapped and unfortunate persons in
need who are not eligible for other forms of assistance provided in
Chapters 1, 3, 5, and 7, 9, 19 and 23 and who are unable
to support themselves because of physical or mental infirmity and would
suffer unless so provided for. A recipient of such assistance must be
unable to provide himself with the necessities of life, have insufficient
means of his own for proper support and have no relative or other person
able to provide and legally responsible for his maintenance or willing to
provide therefor.
Section 43-5-320. General assistance in the form of money
payments may be made to persons who are essential to the welfare of
aged, blind, or disabled persons receiving other forms of public
assistance and who are unable to support themselves and would suffer
unless so provided for. A recipient of such assistance must be unable to
provide himself with the necessities of life, have insufficient means of
his own for proper support and have no relative or other person able to
provide and who is legally responsible for his maintenance or willing to
provide therefor.
Section 43-5-330. Applications for assistance under this article shall
be made to the county department of the county in which the applicant
resides. The application shall be made in writing or reduced to writing
in the manner and upon a form prescribed by the State
department division.
Section 43-5-340. Whenever the county department receives an
application for assistance under this article, an investigation and record
shall promptly be made of the circumstances of the applicant in order to
ascertain the facts supporting the application and in order to obtain such
other information as may be required by the rules of the State
department division. The investigation may include a visit
to the home of the applicant if deemed necessary by the caseworker or
supervisor.
Section 43-5-350. Upon the completion of the investigation the
county department shall decide whether the applicant is eligible for
assistance under the provisions of this article. The amount of assistance
which any such person shall receive shall be determined by the county
department with due regard to the resources and necessary expenditures
and the conditions existing in each case, in accordance with the rules
and regulations made by of the State department
division and, within available annual appropriations, shall be
sufficient when added to all other income and support of the applicant
to provide such person with a reasonable subsistence compatible with
decency and health."
(21) Article 5, Chapter 5, Title 43 of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"Article 5
South Carolina Employables Program Act
Section 43-5-510. This article may be cited as the South Carolina
Employables Program Act.
Section 43-5-520. As used in this article:
(A) "Assistance" means money, services, goods, shelter,
burial, medical, and other health care, including nursing home care
provided from or with municipal, county, state, or federal funds, for
needy persons who reside in this State and need assistance to provide for
themselves and their dependents a decent and healthful standard of
living, and for needy homeless or transient persons.
(B) "Protective payments" means payments with respect
to any dependent child which are made to another individual who, as
determined in accordance with standards prescribed by the
department division, is interested in or connected with
the welfare of such child or relative, or made on behalf of the child, or
relative directly to a person furnishing food, living accommodations, or
other goods, services, or items to or for the child.
(C) `department division' means the Division of
Economic Services in the Department of Social
Children's and Family Services (DSS).
(D) "Legally responsible relative" means spouses or the
parent for an unemancipated minor child.
(E) "Timely notice" means notice which is mailed ten
days or more before the intended change would be effective.
(F) "Adequate notice" means a written notice which
includes a statement of what action the agency intends to take, the
reasons for the intended action, the specific regulations or statutes
supporting the action, an explanation of the individual's right to request
an evidentiary and an administrative hearing on the propriety of the
intended action, and the circumstances under which assistance is
continued if a hearing is requested. Adequate notice must be sent not
later than the date of action.
(G) "Aid to Families with Dependent Children" (AFDC)
means the program authorized by Title IV-A of the Social Security Act
to provide financial assistance and services,
(a) to families with children who are deprived of the support or
care of one or more or both parents by reason of death, physical or
mental incapacity, unemployment, or continued absence from home; and
(b) to children living in alternate care arrangements as a result of
judicial determination.
(H) "Title IV-A State Plan" means a plan that describes
aid and services to needy families and children through Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) which are provided by the State in
accordance with the requirements set forth in Title IV-A of the Social
Security Act.
(I) "State Work Support Plan" means the statewide
operational plan for the Office of Self-Sufficiency Work Support
Services Program, covering policy and procedures also defining
components and available services as developed by the
department division.
(J) "Work Support Services Program Unit" means a
designated staff unit within a selected target area which will be
responsible for the operation of the DSS Work Support Services
Delivery System within that target area. Functions of the unit include,
but are not limited to, assessment, employability planning, supportive
counseling, service provision, coordination with other community
resources, client case management, and follow-up.
(K) "Target Area" means a county or group of counties
that are implementing a DSS Work Support Services Program
Unit as determined by the availability of resources in the specified
county.
(L) "Public assistance applicant" means any individual
applying for Aid to Families with Dependent Children or Food Stamps.
(M) "Public Assistance Recipient" means any individual
receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children or Food Stamps.
(N) "AFDC Redetermination" means the reestablishment
of an individual's eligibility to receive AFDC based on a review of the
individual's current circumstances.
(O) "State Business and Industrial Advisory Committee"
means a committee composed of representatives from businesses and
industries statewide whose purpose is to provide direction and guidance
to the operation of the DSS Work Support Services Program.
(P) "Intergenerational Reading Program (IRP)" means
a program designed to provide a reading tutoring program for
DSS Work Support clients in selected areas.
(Q) "Teen Companion Program" means a program
designed to provide services to encourage teenagers, male and female,
to refrain from parenting children until they are prepared to become
self-sufficient and can assume the role of a parent.
(R) "Project Free Enterprise" means a program designed
to expose young people between the age of fourteen and sixteen years
who come from AFDC families to the American free enterprise system.
Components of the program include, but are not limited to, on-site visits
to businesses, sessions of preparing for the world of work, and firsthand
experiences in operating a business.
(S) "South Carolina Employables Program" means the
Department of Social Children's and Family Services
Work Support Services Delivery System in the Division of
Economic Services and firsthand experiences in operating a
business.
Section 43-5-530. The provisions of Section 43-5-10, with respect
to the promulgation of regulations, apply to this article.
Section 43-5-540. (a) Every applicant or recipient of public
assistance, within ten days after the application for public assistance or
the redetermination of eligibility as a condition of eligibility for Aid to
Families with Dependent Children shall meet a work registration
requirement in accordance with regulations of the DSS Work
Support Services Delivery Program as set forth in the department
division's Title IV-A State Plan, unless the individual is one of
the following:
(1) a child who is attending school or college or an approved
program or vocational training on a full-time basis or who is under the
age of sixteen;
(2) ill or incapacitated;
(3) required to be present in the home because of illness or
incapacity of another member of the household;
(4) The mother or other relative of a child under the age of three
who is caring for the child;.
(5) the mother or other caretaker of a child if the father or another
adult male relative is in the home and not excluded from the requirement
to register, unless the adult male relative has failed to register as required
in this article or has refused without good cause to accept employment
or to participate in work experience or training;
(6) actively participating in the federal Work Incentive Program,
a training program, or both;
(7) employed full time.
(b) Any person excluded from the requirements of registration by
reason of subsection (a) is encouraged to participate on a voluntary basis
and may register to participate in the DSS Work Support Service
Delivery System.
(c) No person registered pursuant to subsection (a) may refuse to
accept a bona fide offer of employment or training. In order to be a bona
fide offer of employment, there must be reasonable assurances that:
(1) appropriate standards for the health, safety, minimum wage,
and other conditions applicable to the performance of work and training
in the employment are established and will be maintained;
(2) with respect to such employment, the conditions of work,
training, education, and employment are reasonable in the light of such
factors as type of work, geographical region, and the proficiency of the
participant;
(3) the employment is not available due to a bona fide labor
dispute, strike, or lockout.
(d) Any person required to register, pursuant to subsection (a) who
wilfully fails to register or refuses a bona fide offer of employment or
training in violation of subsection (c), is ineligible for assistance. Where
there is no other parent present who is eligible for assistance, any aid for
which the child is eligible must be provided in the form of protective
payment as defined in Section 43-5-520.
Section 43-5-550. (a) The department division is
responsible for the development and operation of a statewide Work
Support Services Delivery System which will assist public assistance
recipients, as required to register in Section 43-5-540, or those who
participate on a voluntary basis, to attain economic independence
through employment in response to the manpower needs of the State.
(b) The department division must also develop and
operate program components, as part of the DSS Work Support
Services Delivery System, which focus upon the special needs of
DSS youth whose ages are from fourteen to seventeen. These
special program components may include, but are not limited to the
Intergenerational Reading, Teen Companion, and Project Free Enterprise
program components.
(c) A major focus of the DSS Work Support Services
Delivery System is the mobilization of all available resources, toward a
preventive effort designed to reduce or eliminate the need for economic
assistance, which would break the "welfare cycle".
(d) The department division must seek to ensure
that the DSS Work Support Services Delivery System will not
be in competition with or duplicate services of other work-oriented
programs but will supplement and compliment those programs through
the initiation and maintenance of cooperative agreements and contracts,
as considered necessary by the department division.
(e) The department division shall establish a State
Business and Industrial Advisory Committee which must provide
direction and guidance to the department division in the
planning, implementation, and operation of the DSS Work
Support Services Delivery System.
(f) The Commissioner deputy director of the
department division is also responsible, upon
approval of the DSS State Board, for appointing the chairperson and
membership of the committee.
(g) The department division is also responsible for
developing policies and procedures governing the operation of the
committee.
(h) The department division is responsible for
developing a State Plan for the design, implementation, operation, and
evaluation of the DSS Work Support Services Delivery System.
The development of this State Plan must be done in coordination and
cooperation with the State Reorganization Commission and the Human
Services Integration Project. The State Plan must incorporate the
following components:
(1) Referrals must be made to the existing Intake Unit in the
DSS county Office department of children's and
family services in which the Work Support Services Program is
being operated. Applicants for public assistance who are determined
ineligible will be referred, as considered appropriate by the
department division, to other service agencies.
(2) The client assessment component of the Work Support
Services Unit is to determine the individual client's current
employability status and level of functioning in the following areas as
are appropriate for that client:
(a) vocational assessment;
(b) educational assessment;
(c) psychological assessment;
(d) social assessment;
(e) medical assessment;
(f) economic assessment.
(3) Following assessment, an individual employability plan must
be written responding to the needs of the client. A vocational objective
must be established for each client in keeping with identified abilities,
aptitudes, competencies, and interests. Services must also be identified
in the Plan which assist the client to enter employment.
(4) Work Support Services must be provided to assist public
assistance recipients to enter the work force. Services must be provided
based upon individual employability needs of the client and may
include, but not be limited to the following:
(a) Adjustment services shall focus on the special personal,
social, and work-related needs of the client such as work maturity, job
tolerance, motivation, and other necessary employment skills. These
adjustment services will be provided by Work Support Services staff or
by contracts or cooperative agreements with other agencies, or both.
(b) Vocational and educational training must be provided to
clients based on specific needs identified during the assessment phase.
The following types of training may be provided depending on
individual need:
(i) On-the-job training must be provided through
cooperative agreements or contracts with employers, or both.
(ii) Semi-skilled and skilled training must be provided
through cooperative agreements or contracts with the Department of
Vocational Rehabilitation, State Department of Education, State Board
for Technical and Comprehensive Education, the private sector, or all.
(iii) Specialized training and education must be made
available on an individual basis where appropriate and cost effective.
(c) Supportive counseling and guidance must be provided
throughout the Work Support Services process and continue following
job placement as determined necessary by the DSS Work
Support Services staff and the client.
(d) These services must be provided on an individual basis and
may include, but not be limited to, a child or dependent, or both,
transportation, care, housing, physical restoration, and mental health.
Some of the necessary ancillary services may be provided through the
utilization of existing resources in the targeted areas of operation, such
as day care providers, the Housing Authority, public or private
transportation services, or both.
(5) Job marketing and selective placement services must be
provided by the DSS Work Support Services staff and through
cooperative agreement or contracts with the Employment Security
Commission, Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, Job Training
Partnership Act (JTPA), and Private Industry Councils (PIC), State
Development Board, State Board for Technical and Comprehensive
Education, or all. Emphasis must be placed on the identification and
development of quality placements to assure the continued
self-sufficiency of DSS clients served.
(6) The department division is responsible for the
development of policies and procedures related to case management,
client staffings, and other requirements, in keeping with state and federal
regulations.
(7) The department division is responsible for the
establishment of specific performance measurements, which must be
incorporated into a comprehensive evaluation design, focusing on the
cost effectiveness and efficiency of the program.
(a) The department division is responsible for
identifying specific target areas within the State to implement a Work
Support Services Unit. The holistic service delivery approach may be
adapted and implemented in a specific county or multi-county area
within the State. The department division must identify
factors to be considered in implementing the Work Support Services
Delivery System in a targeted area. These factors may include the
special employability needs of the population, the uniqueness of the
area, the manpower needs, and the availability of needed resources and
services.
(b) The department division shall establish a
community-based Work Support Council in each of the target areas in
which a Work Support Services Unit is operated. The
department division is also responsible for developing
policies and procedures governing the operation of the Council. This
Council shall provide input and guidance regarding the operation of that
specific DSS Work Support Services Program Unit. The
Legislative Delegation shall appoint members in proportion to
population of county and the chairmanship shall rotate between counties.
All members shall serve terms of four years with no limit on the number
of terms that may be served. Membership shall include the business and
industrial sector, involved agencies and organizations, and DSS
clientele in the targeted area. The membership of the Council shall
include, as a minimum, the following composition:
(1) five members from the involved agencies and
organizations;
(2) five members from the business and industrial sector; and
(3) two members from DSS clientele.
(c) The department division shall take all
appropriate measures to obtain any necessary federal approval and
assistance for the South Carolina Employables Program.
(d) No department division or agency of this
State and no vendor delivering social services funded in whole or in part
by contracts with or grants from the department division
shall discriminate in any manner, including employment or job
placement, against any person because that person is or was an applicant
for or recipient of assistance.
Section 43-5-560. The department division may
appoint a protective payee to take charge of the expenditure of
assistance granted any person under this article when, in its opinion,
consistent with federal regulations, such protective payee is necessary.
In any such case, payment must be made directly to the protective payee.
A protective payee shall serve without compensation and is subject to
such regulations and accounting as the department
division shall prescribe.
Section 43-5-570. A person is not in a class of persons excluded
from mandatory participation in the South Carolina Employables
Program who without good cause (1) voluntarily terminates employment
or reduces his earning capacity for the purpose of qualifying for
assistance or a larger amount thereof, (2) refuses to participate in the
DSS Work Support Services Delivery System in keeping with
the State Plan, or (3) fails or refuses to accept referral to and participate
in a vocational rehabilitation or training program, or refuses to accept
referral to and work in employment in which he is able to engage,
provided the employment conforms to the standards established for a
bona fide offer of employment in the South Carolina Employables
Program and is disqualified from receiving assistance for three payment
months for the first such failure and for six payment months for any
subsequent such failure.
Section 43-5-580. (a) Every applicant for assistance whose
eligibility is based on deprivation due to absence of a parent from a
home must be referred to the Office of Child Support Enforcement
within two working days of the furnishing of aid or the determination
that an individual is a recipient of public assistance. The
department division is responsible for taking all steps
necessary to identify, locate, and obtain support payments from absent
parents.
(b) The department Director of the Department or his
designee shall promulgate regulations which establish guidelines
for minimum contributions which must be applied by the courts in
determining the amount that an absent parent is expected to pay toward
the support of a dependent child. Copies of the guidelines must be made
available to courts, district attorneys, and to the public. The guidelines
formulated pursuant to this section must be applied pursuant to the
provisions of Section 20-7-852.
(c) Failure of the absent parent to comply with his support
obligations must be referred to the court having jurisdiction of this
matter for appropriate proceedings.
Section 43-5-590. In accordance with a child support plan approved
by the federal government, the department division has
the power and its duty must be to:
(a) require as a condition of eligibility for assistance that the
applicant or recipient:
(i) furnish his social security account number or, to the extent
permitted by federal law, proof of making application for a social
security account number if the applicant or recipient has no social
security account number;
(ii) assign to the State the rights to support from any other person
the applicant may have in his own behalf or in behalf of any other family
member for whom the applicant is applying for or receiving aid and
which have accrued at the time the assignment is executed or which may
accrue in the future. By accepting public assistance for or on behalf of
a child or children, by making application for services under Title IV-D,
or through placement of a child or children in state-funded foster care or
under Title IV-E, except where good cause as determined by the agency
exists, the recipient or applicant is considered to have made an
assignment to the State Department of Social
Children's and Family Services of rights, title, and interest to a
support obligation which is owed for the child or children or for the
absent parent's spouse or former spouse who is the recipient or the
applicant with whom the child is living, if and to the extent that a
spousal support obligation has been established, and the child and the
child support obligation is being enforced pursuant to Title IV-D of the
federal Social Security Act. The assignment to the department
division is considered to have been made up to the amount of
public assistance money or foster care board payments paid for or on
behalf of the child or children for that period of time as the public
assistance monies or foster care board payments are paid. The
assignment consists of all rights and interest in a support obligation that
the recipient may be owed past, present, or future by a person up to the
amount of public assistance money paid to the recipient for or on behalf
of the minor child or children or a child in foster care. The
department division is subrogated to the rights of the
child or children or the person having custody of the child or children to
collect and receive all support payments. The department
division has the right to initiate a support action in its own
name or in the name of the recipient to recover payments ordered by the
courts of this or any other state or to obtain a court order to initiate these
payments including an action to determine the paternity of a child. The
clerk of court shall execute the necessary order substituting the
department division and changing the payee of the
support to the department division upon receipt by the
clerk of the notice of assignment.
(iii) cooperate with the department division in
establishing the paternity of a child born out of wedlock with respect to
whom aid is claimed, and in obtaining support payments for such
applicant and for a child with respect to whom such aid is claimed, or in
obtaining any other payments or property due such applicant of such
child and that, if the relative with whom a child is living is found to be
ineligible because of failure to comply with the requirements of items (a)
and (b), any aid for which such child is eligible will be provided in the
form of protective payments. The department division
shall establish criteria in accordance with federal regulations to
determine whether action to establish paternity and secure support is not
in the best interest of a child.
(b) Provide for protective payments for any child eligible for
assistance when a caretaker relative is ineligible due to the caretaker
relative's failure to comply with either subitems (1) or (2) of item (a) of
this section.
(c) Provide that in any case in which the child support payments are
collected for a child with respect to whom an assignment has been made
pursuant to subitem (ii) of item (a) of this section the payment is made
to the department division for distribution pursuant to
item (g) of this section except for those payments made for any month
in which the amount collected is sufficient to make the family ineligible
for assistance. The department division shall pay the
amounts to the recipient consistent with federal laws and regulations.
Whenever a family ceases receiving public assistance the assignment
pursuant to subitem (ii) of item (a) of this section converts to a
nonpublic assistance assignment. However, the nonpublic assistance
recipient may submit a written request to have the assignment terminated
except with respect to the amount of any unpaid support obligation that
has accrued under the assignment. From this amount the
department division shall attempt to collect the unpaid
obligation and distribute the amounts consistent with federal laws and
regulations. The department division may not charge
fees or recover costs from support collections and shall pay all amounts
collected which represent monthly support payment and arrearage owed
to the family. The department division shall continue
to provide all appropriate IV-D services and distribute any amounts
collected consistent with federal laws and regulations except that the
department division may not require any formal
application or impose an application fee but may recover costs
consistent with federal laws and regulations pursuant to item (f) of this
section.
(d) The department division shall create a single
and separate organizational unit which is responsible for developing and
implementing a federally-approved state plan for child support. The unit
shall maintain a parent locator service to locate absent relatives owing
or allegedly owing child support utilizing all sources of information and
legally available records and the parent locator service of the Federal
Department of Health and Human Services, by filing in accordance with
Section 453(B) of the social security Act. A state or local agency or
private employer of this State upon request of the Department of
Social Children's and Family Services shall provide the
department division with information regarding the
name, address, and social security number of a person owing or
allegedly owing an obligation of support for a dependent child. A state
or local agency, board, or commission providing this information to the
department division may not charge the
department division a fee for the provision of this
information. This provision does not apply to information or for vital
records furnished by agencies under federal mandate to be reimbursed
for information provided to any federal or state agency. The
department division, upon receipt of this information,
may make it available only to the appropriate officials or agencies of this
or any other state operating a program pursuant to Title IV-D of the
federal Social Security Act.
(e) Undertake either directly or pursuant to cooperative
arrangements with appropriate courts or law enforcement officials to:
(i) establish paternity of children born out of wedlock with
respect to whom an assignment pursuant to subitem (2) of item (a) of
this section has been made or with respect to an individual not otherwise
eligible pursuant to item (f) of this section;
(ii) secure support for a child with respect to whom such an
assignment has been made from any legally responsible relative.
(f) The department division shall provide that the
support collection or paternity determination services made available to
approved applicants for the Aid to Families With Dependent Children
Program under this section be made available to an individual not
receiving assistance under the program who files an application for the
services with the department division. For an individual
not otherwise eligible for these services under the program, a fee and
cost may be imposed by the department division. The
fee and cost must be an amount not to exceed the amount permitted by
federal law. The fees and cost recoveries as would cause a reduction in
the amount of federal matching funds must be retained by the
department division to offset, dollar for dollar, the
federal reductions. When there is an assignment of the rights to support,
the clerk of court shall execute the necessary order substituting the
department division and changing the payee of the
support to the department division upon receipt by the
clerk of the notice of assignment.
(g) provide for bonus payments to recipients consistent with federal
law from amounts collected periodically without any decrease in the
amount of assistance;
(h) make incentive payments to political subdivisions consistent
with federal law whenever the political subdivision enforces or collects
support rights assigned to the department division
pursuant to subitem (2) of item (a) and item (f) of this section.
(i) construe and implement this section in order to comply with
Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act relating to child support
and the establishment of paternity. The department
division shall take all steps necessary to implement a federally
approved state plan for child support.
(j) to provide that in rendering services under the plan to individuals
with respect to whom an assignment is effective under this section, the
State represents the public interest in establishing and enforcing child
support obligations and the assignment does not create an attorney-client
relationship between the agency and the custodial parent, the child, or
any other party.
Section 43-5-600. Monies due from or payable by this State,
including any agency, instrumentality, or authority of the State, and due
to any individual is subject, in like manner and to the same extent as if
the State were a private person, to legal process brought for the
enforcement against such individual of his legal obligations to provide
support for a child or spouse; provided, however, that Section 41-35-140
shall control in cases concerning the South Carolina Employment
Security Commission.
Section 43-5-610. (a) A central registry of records must be
maintained in the department division showing, as far
as it is known, with respect to any parent who has deserted or abandoned
any child receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children:
(1) the full and true name of the parent, together with any known
aliases;
(2) date and place of birth;
(3) physical description;
(4) social security number;
(5) occupation and any special skills he may have;
(6) military status and Veterans' Administration or military
service serial number;
(7) last known address and the date of the address;
(8) the number of the driver's license;
(9) any further information that may be of assistance in locating
the person.
(b) To effectuate the purposes of this section, the department
division may request and shall receive from all departments,
bureaus, commissions, boards, or other agencies of South Carolina, or
any of its political subdivisions, and the same are authorized to provide,
assistance and data as will enable the department
division and other public agencies to carry out their duties to
locate absent parents for the support of their children.
(c) Any records established pursuant to the provisions of this section
are available only to public welfare offices, county attorneys, solicitors,
probation departments, central registries in other states, and courts
having jurisdiction in support or abandonment proceedings or actions
and only for the purposes for which the records have been established.
Section 43-5-620. (a) The Commissioner deputy
director of the division or his designees, in writing, shall have
access to all records and the departments, in cooperation with all other
departments of the executive branch, shall establish a single uniform
system of information clearance and retrieval, wherever possible.
(b) The bureau of employment security shall provide the
department division with a statement of earnings
clearance upon the request of the department division.
(c) Upon request of the department division, the
bureau of Motor Vehicles Division shall provide
information as to all vehicles owned by the applicant or recipient.
(d) With the exception of the access provided by subsections (b) and
(c), the provisions of subsection (a) may not be construed to give the
department division access to information which would
otherwise be considered privileged or confidential pursuant to state or
federal law.
Section 43-5-630. For purposes of determining eligibility for
assistance, the income received by individuals employed on a
contractual basis may be prorated over the period of the contract or
intermittent income received quarterly, semi-annually, or yearly may be
prorated over the period covered by the income.
Section 43-5-640. Two copies of all reports required by the National
Center for Social Statistics of the Department of Health and Human
Services must be furnished to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee and
the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee of the
House of Representatives when they are submitted to the federal
government."
(22) Section 43-7-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-7-20. The State Department of
Children's and Family Services, Division of Economic Services
shall secure Federal funds, when available, to assist in the program for
medical and hospital care hereby authorized."
(23) The portion of the first sentence of Section 43-7-220
preceding (a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 43-7-220. The director of the county social
children's and family services department or the chief
administrator of any county operated hospital hereinafter referred to as
petitioner, upon alleging in a verified petition,"
SECTION 6. Division for Review of Foster Care of Children
(1) Section 20-7-2376(B)(2) and (G) of the 1976 Code are
amended to read:
"(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.
(G) To report to the state office of the Department of
Social Children's and Family 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) and (B) of this
section. Any case findings or recommendations of a local review board
are advisory."
(2) Section 20-7-2379 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act
81 of 1989, is further amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2379. There is created in the Department of
Children's and Family Services the South Carolina Board of
Directors Division 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 The
Director of the Department of Children's and Family Services shall
appoint an Advisory Board comprised of one representative from each
local review board to meet quarterly to 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 Section 20-7-2376. These recommendations must
be included in an annual report, filed with the General Assembly, of the
activities of the state office division and local review boards.
The board of directors director or his designee 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 Director of the Department of Children's and
Family Services is authorized to shall employ a
deputy director of the division who may be paid an
annual salary to be determined by the General Assembly. The
board director only may remove the deputy
director at any time for any reason for cause. The
deputy 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."
(3) Section 20-7-2385 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act
67 of 1991, is further amended to read:
"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 Director of the Department of Children's
and Family Services 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 director of the department
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."
(4) Section 20-7-2394 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"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 and local
review boards by making available for review records as may be
requested."
SECTION 7. (A) Except where otherwise provided by law for a
specific department. The department may carry forward to the
succeeding fiscal year eighty percent of unexpended appropriations.
These carry forward funds may be used for the purposes for which other
funds are appropriated for the use of the department.
(B) Departments may consolidate existing full-time equivalent
positions (FTE's) authorized for the department and redistribute the
applicable salary funds in the manner the department director determines
the most efficient use of such funds, including salary increases.
(C) Any other approval procedures for department reorganization in
effect on the effective date of this act no longer apply.
SECTION 8. The Director of the Department of Children's and Family
Services, no later than the first day of the 1994 legislative session and
every twelve months thereafter for the following three years, shall
submit to the Governor and General Assembly a report giving detailed
and comprehensive recommendations for the purposes of merging or
eliminating duplicative or unnecessary divisions, programs, or personnel
within each department to provide a more efficient administration of
government services. Thereafter, the Governor shall periodically
consult with the directors and the Governor shall submit a report of any
recommendations to the General Assembly for review and consideration.
SECTION 9. (A) On July 1, 1993, where the provisions of this act
transfer particular state agencies, departments, boards, commissions,
committees or entities, or sections, divisions or portions thereof
(transferring departments), to the Department of Children's and Family
Services or a division within the department or make them a part of the
department or part of a division of the department (receiving
departments), the employees, current appropriations, bonded
indebtedness if applicable, and real and personal property of the
transferring department are also transferred to and become part of the
receiving department or division unless otherwise specifically provided.
All classified or unclassified personnel employed by these transferring
departments on the effective date of this act, either by contract or by
employment at will, shall become employees of the receiving
department or division, with the same compensation, classification, and
grade level, as applicable. The Budget and Control Board shall cause all
necessary actions to be taken to accomplish this transfer and shall
prescribe the manner in which the transfer provided for in this section
shall be accomplished.
(B) Where an agency, department, entity or official is transferred to
or consolidated with the Department of Children's and Family Services
or a division within the department, regulations promulgated by that
transferred agency, department, entity or official under the authority of
former provisions of law pertaining to it are continued and are
considered to be promulgated under the authority of present provisions
of law pertaining to it.
(C) References to the names of agencies, departments, entities or
public officials changed by this act, to their duties or functions herein
devolved upon the department or a division within the department, or to
provisions of law consolidated with or transferred to other parts of the
1976 Code are considered to be and must be construed to mean
appropriate references.
(D) Employees or personnel of agencies, departments, entities or
public officials, or sections, divisions or portions thereof, transferred to
or made a part of the department or a division of the department
pursuant to the terms of this act shall continue to occupy the same
offices and facilities which they now occupy unless or until otherwise
changed by appropriate action and authorization. The cost of these
offices and facilities, if any, shall continue to be paid by the transferring
agency, department, entity or official formerly employing these
personnel until otherwise provided by the General Assembly or the
Budget and Control Board. The records and files of the agencies which
formerly employed these personnel shall continue to remain the property
of these transferring agencies, except that these personnel shall have
complete access to these records and files in the performance of their
duties as new employees of the receiving agency.
(E) Unless otherwise provided herein or by law, all fines, fees,
forfeitures, or revenues imposed or secured by agencies, personnel, or
portions thereof, so transferred to the department or a division within the
department must continue to be used and expended for those purposes
provided prior to the effective date of this act. If a portion of these fines,
fees, forfeitures, or revenues were required to be used for the support,
benefit, or expense of personnel transferred, such funds must continue
to be used for these purposes.
(F) The Budget and Control Board, in consultation with the
appropriate standing committees of the General Assembly and the other
affected agencies, shall prescribe the manner in which the provisions of
subsections (A), (D), and (E) must be implemented where agreement
between the affected agencies cannot be obtained.
(G) The Budget and Control Board shall provide for a consolidated
employee employment application process to be used by all state
agencies or departments including those affected by the provisions of
this act. This consolidated employment application process for state
government shall be implemented on January 1, 1994.
(H) If the functions of former agencies have been devolved on more
than one departmental division, the general support services of the
former agency must be transferred to the restructured departmental
divisions as determined by the Budget and Control Board or as provided
by the General Assembly in the annual general appropriations act.
(I) The Code Commissioner shall:
(1) Place all appropriate provisions of sections, articles, chapters
or titles enacted in this act in the appropriate parts of the 1976 Code and
in so doing may modify such language as necessary to implement the
intent of the General Assembly.
(2) Correct references and cross references as he considers
necessary in affected provisions of the 1976 Code.
(3) Cause the changes to the 1976 Code as contained in this act
to be printed in replacement volumes or in cumulative supplements as
he considers practical and economical.
SECTION 10. (A) If any section, subsection, paragraph,
subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any
reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not
affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this
act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed
this act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph,
subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective
of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs,
subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be
declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.
(B) The repeal or amendment by this act of any law, whether
temporary or permanent or civil or criminal, does not affect pending
actions, rights, duties, or liabilities founded thereon, or alter, discharge,
release or extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred under
the repealed or amended law, unless the repealed or amended provision
shall so expressly provide. After the effective date of this act, all laws
repealed or amended by this act must be taken and treated as remaining
in full force and effect for the purpose of sustaining any pending or
vested right, civil action, special proceeding, criminal prosecution, or
appeal existing as of the effective date of this act, and for the
enforcement of rights, duties, penalties, forfeitures and liabilities as they
stood under the repealed or amended laws. The Department of
Children's and Family Services must be substituted as a party in interest
for any agency involved in a pending proceeding for which the powers,
duties, and functions of the agency were transferred to the department.
SECTION 11. This act takes effect July 1, 1993.
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