Title 63, South Carolina Children's Code

The Department of Children's Advocacy may employ a Director of the Continuum of Care and staff necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. The funds for the division director, staff, and other purposes of the Continuum of Care Division must be provided in the annual ge…

(A) Records, reports, applications, and files kept on any client or potential client of the Continuum of Care are confidential and only may be disclosed in order to develop or provide appropriate services for the client or potential client unless: (1) the client or potential clie…

The Continuum of Care Division shall submit, through the Department of Children's Advocacy's annual report to the Governor and General Assembly, its activities and recommendations for changes and improvements in the delivery of services by public agencies serving children.

There is established the Interagency System for Caring for Emotionally Disturbed Children, an integrated system of care to be developed by the Continuum of Care for Emotionally Disturbed Children in the Department of Children's Advocacy, the Office of Intellectual and Development…

The Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the other agencies involved in the Families First Initiative, shall design and manage a component of the Interagency System for Caring for Emotionally Disturbed Children, for families and children identified as in need of spe…

There is established the Services Fund for Emotionally Disturbed Children. The Interagency System for Caring for Emotionally Disturbed Children, as provided for in Section 63-11-1510, must be paid for solely by the fund and money in the fund must be used only to support the syste…

(A) There is established the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Board of Trustees, an eleemosynary corporation, which shall oversee the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness initiative, a broad range of innovative early childhood development and education, fa…

(A) There is created the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Board of Trustees which must be chaired by the Governor, or his designee, and must include the State Superintendent of Education, or his designee, who shall serve as ex officio voting members of the board. (B…

(A) For the purposes of this article, "advisory council" means the South Carolina Advisory Council established by Executive Order Number 2010-06 in compliance with the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, 42 U.S.C. Section 9837b, et seq. (B) The membership of th…

All publicly funded early childhood-serving agencies and entities shall participate in data-sharing initiatives supported by the advisory council in furtherance of the requirements listed in Section 63-11-1725.

To oversee and be accountable for the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Initiative, in accordance with the APA, the board shall: (1) develop and promulgate a comprehensive long-range initiative for improving early childhood development and increasing school readiness…

The South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Board of Trustees shall employ, by a majority vote, a director of the Office of South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness and other staff as necessary to carry out the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness initiativ…

(A) A separate fund must be established to accept nongovernmental grants, gifts, and donations from any public or private source for the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness initiative. Each donor may designate up to one-half of their contribution to specific counties o…

It is the policy of this State that: (1) every child is entitled to live in safety and in health and to survive into adulthood; (2) responding to child deaths is a state and a community responsibility; (3) when a child dies, the response by the State and the community to the deat…

For purposes of this article: (1) "Child" means a person under eighteen years of age. (2) "Committee" means the State Child Fatality Advisory Committee. (3) "Department" means the State Law Enforcement Division's Department of Child Fatalities. (4) "Local child protective service…

There is created within the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) the Department of Child Fatalities which is under the supervision of the Chief of SLED.

(A) There is created a State Child Fatality Advisory Committee composed of: (1) the Director of the South Carolina Department of Social Services; (2) the Director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; (3) the State Superintendent of Education; (4) …

(A) The purpose of the department is to expeditiously investigate child deaths in all counties of the State. (B) To achieve its purpose, the department shall: (1) upon receipt of a report of a child death from the county coroner or medical examiner, as required by Section 17-5-54…

(A) The purpose of the State Child Fatality Advisory Committee is to decrease the incidences of preventable child deaths by: (1) developing an understanding of the causes and incidences of child deaths; (2) developing plans for and implementing changes within the agencies represe…

Upon request of the department and as necessary to carry out the department's purpose and duties, the department immediately must be provided: (1) by a provider of medical care, access to information and records regarding a child whose death is being reviewed by the department, i…

When necessary in the discharge of the duties of the department and upon application of the department, the clerks of court shall issue a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum to any state, county, or local agency, board, or commission or to any representative of any state, county, or…

(A) Meetings of the committee and department are closed to the public and are not subject to Chapter 4, Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act, when the committee and department are discussing individual cases of child deaths. (B) Except as provided in subsection (C), meetings …

(A) All information and records acquired by the committee and by the department in the exercise of their purposes and duties pursuant to this article are confidential, exempt from disclosure under Chapter 4, Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act, and only may be disclosed as n…

(A) This article does not apply to: (1) child welfare agencies 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 artic…

(A) There is created the "Military-Connected Children's Welfare Task Force" for the purpose of identifying issues related to military-connected children and opening communication between child welfare agencies of this State and local military installations. The task force shall s…

There is created the Department of Children's Advocacy. The department shall be headed by the State Child Advocate, who is the director of the department. The Governor shall appoint the State Child Advocate from three candidates recommended by the Joint Citizens and Legislative C…

The Department of Administration shall provide administrative support to the Department of Children's Advocacy for the performance of its duties, including, but not limited to, financial accounting support, human resources administrative support, information technology shared ser…

The department shall be comprised of deputy child advocates, investigators, and other staff to be employed as necessary by the State Child Advocate to carry out the duties of the department as authorized by law. The deputy child advocates serve at will and may be removed by the S…

For purposes of this article: (1) "Critical incident" means the fatality, near fatality, or serious bodily or emotional injury of a child who is in the custody of or receiving services from a state agency, or circumstances that result in a reasonable belief that a state agency fa…

(A) The State Child Advocate is responsible for ensuring that children receive adequate protection and care from services or programs offered by the Department of Social Services, the Office of Mental Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Juvenile…

Any and all information and records acquired by the Department of Children's Advocacy in the exercise of the office's purpose and duties under this chapter shall be confidential and exempt from public disclosure under Chapter 4, Title 30.

The State Child Advocate shall receive compensation as established under the provisions of Section 8-11-160 and for which funds have been authorized in the general appropriations act.

The Department of Children's Advocacy shall: (1) ensure that children under the care of a state agency, particularly children served by the child welfare or juvenile justice systems, receive timely, safe, and effective services and shall safeguard the health, safety, and well-bei…

(A) A state agency shall inform the Department of Children's Advocacy within twenty-four hours of a critical incident. (B) The State Child Advocate may perform an independent investigation of a critical incident, or the State Child Advocate may review a completed critical inciden…

(A) The Department of Children's Advocacy shall establish a toll-free public telephone number and an electronic complaint submission form on the department's website for the purpose of receiving complaints relative to the provision of services to children by a state agency. The d…

(A) Complaints regarding any allegations against the State Child Advocate, the Department of Children's Advocacy, or any of its affiliated divisions should be submitted in writing to the State Inspector General under the authority provided by the provisions of Chapter 6, Title 1.…

In the investigation of a known or suspected crime against a child, a multidisciplinary team must follow the South Carolina Child Abuse Response Protocol as developed by the South Carolina Children's Justice Act Task Force and the South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Cen…

(A) The South Carolina Children's Justice Act Task Force and the South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Centers shall develop and provide initial training on the protocol and updated training as needed for this purpose. The protocol must be publicly available and must be a…

The Department of Children's Advocacy shall maintain the protocol and the committee's updates to the protocol.

The department shall administer the provisions of this article 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 article.

(A) "Children's Advocacy Centers" mean centers which must coordinate a multi-agency response to child maltreatment and assist in the investigation and assessment of child abuse. These centers must provide: (1) a neutral, child-friendly facility for forensic interviews; (2) the co…

(A) The department is authorized to develop a network of homes and facilities to use for temporary crisis placements for children. (B) Temporary crisis placements may be made with licensed child welfare agencies including foster homes and residential group facilities. The departm…

This article may be cited as the "South Carolina Child Abuse and Neglect Network."

There is created the South Carolina Child Abuse and Neglect Network, a program to provide coordination and administration of medical service resources to those entities responding to cases of suspected child abuse or neglect. The program is administered by the University of South…

For purposes of this article: (1) "Child" has the same meaning as provided for in Section 63-7-20. (2) "Child abuse or neglect" has the same meaning as provided for in Section 63-7-20. (3) "Children's advocacy centers" has the same meaning as provided for in Section 63-11-310. (4…

(A) The program coordinates and administers child abuse medical service resources for the State, assisting and collaborating with children's advocacy centers and state agencies charged with the investigation, assessment, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse or neglect for ch…