Title 63, South Carolina Children's Code

(A) The sworn document provided for in Section 63-9-330, which gives consent or relinquishment for the purpose of adoption, must be signed in the presence of two witnesses one of whom must be one of the following: (1) a judge of any family court in this State; (2) an attorney lic…

Withdrawal of any consent or relinquishment is not permitted except by order of the court after notice and opportunity to be heard is given to all persons concerned, and except when the court finds that the withdrawal is in the best interests of the child and that the consent or …

(A) With the exception of the persons provided for in Section 63-9-340(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 Services. Any person conducting an investigation for the ad…

(A) Consent or relinquishment for the purpose of adoption, pursuant to Section 63-9-310, for a minor child who is in the custody of the department by a removal action under Section 63-7-1660, is valid, binding, and enforceable. However, if a cause of action for the termination of…

(A) The family court has exclusive jurisdiction over all proceedings held pursuant to this article. Proceedings for adoption by residents of this State may be brought in the family court of the county in which the petitioner resides or is in military service, or in the county in …

Any child present within this State at the time the petition for adoption is filed, irrespective of place of birth or place of residence, may be adopted.

Once a petitioner has received the adoptee into his home and a petition for adoption has been filed, the petitioner has temporary custody of the adoptee and is responsible for the care, maintenance, and support of the adoptee, including necessary medical or surgical treatment, ex…

(A) Before the final hearing for adoption of a child, investigations and reports must be completed in accordance with the following: (1) Before the placement of any child by any agency or by any person with a prospective adoptive parent, a preplacement investigation, a background…

(A) Any South Carolina resident may petition the court to adopt a child. (B)(1) Any nonresident of South Carolina may petition the court to adopt a child in the following circumstances only: (a) the child is a special needs child, as defined by Section 63-9-30; (b) the child is t…

(A) No person or entity other than the Department of Social Services, a child placing agency licensed in this State, or an attorney licensed in this State may advertise that the person or entity will place or accept a child for adoption. (B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subs…

(A) A petition for adoption shall specify: (1) the full name, age, address, and place of residence of each petitioner, and, if married, the place and date of the marriage; (2) when the petitioner acquired, or intends to acquire, custody or placement of the child and from what per…

Before any hearing is held on the adoption or any matter related to the adoption, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for the adoptee as in other family court actions, and the adoptee must be served with a copy of the pleadings. However, if the adoptee is fourteen years o…

(A) Notice of any proceeding initiated pursuant to this article must be given to the persons or agencies specified in subsection (B) of this section, unless the person has given consent or relinquishment or parental rights have been terminated. (B) The following persons or agenci…

(A) At the final hearing on the adoption, the petitioner shall file a full, itemized accounting of disbursements of anything of value made, agreed to be made, or anticipated being made by or on behalf of the petitioner for expenses incurred or fees for services rendered in connec…

(A) The final hearing on the adoption petition must be held no later than six months after the filing of the adoption petition. In the case of a special needs child, the hearing must be held no later than twelve months after the filing of the adoption petition. In its discretion,…

(A) After the final decree of adoption is entered, the relationship of parent and child and all the rights, duties, and other legal consequences of the natural relationship of parent and child exist between the adoptee, the adoptive parent, and the kindred of the adoptive parent.…

(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), after the final order, judgment, or decree of adoption is entered, no party to an adoption proceeding, and no one claiming under a party, may question the validity of the adoption because of any defect or irregularity, jurisdictional or o…

(A) Unless the court otherwise orders, all hearings held in proceedings under this article and Article 7 are confidential and must be held in closed court without admittance of any person other than those persons involved in the proceedings and their counsel. (B) All papers and r…

(A) For each adoption handled through a child placing agency as defined in Section 63-9-30, the attorney for the petitioner shall, within fifteen days of the filing of the final decree, transmit to the appropriate agency a certified copy of the adoption decree and a Certificate o…

(A) Prior to and at the time the department places a child with a prospective adoptive parent for purposes of adoption, the department shall disclose to the prospective adoptive parent all information known by the person making the placement or reasonably accessible to the person…

The State has a compelling interest in promptly providing stable and permanent homes for adoptive children and in preventing the disruption of adoptive placements. It is the purpose of the Responsible Father Registry to provide notice to unmarried biological fathers who affirmati…

(A) There is established within the Department of Social Services the Responsible Father Registry, which the department shall maintain. (B) As used in this section: (1) "Department" means the Department of Social Services. (2) "Registrant" means an unmarried biological father or …

(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 63-9-790(A) and (B), in the case of a child born in a foreign country who was not a United States citizen at birth and whose adoption was finalized in a foreign country, the court shall review the documentation as required by this sec…

When the relationship of parent and child has been created by a decree of adoption of a court of any other state or nation, the rights and obligations of the parties as to matters within the jurisdiction of this State must be determined by Section 63-9-760.

Any agency, institution or family home engaged in the business of receiving children for care and maintenance, either part or full time, shall be classed as a child welfare agency.

It is the purpose of this article to develop and enhance the delivery of services to severely emotionally disturbed children and youth and to ensure that the special needs of this population are met appropriately to the extent possible within this State. To achieve this objective…

(A)(1) The Continuum of Care serves children: (a) who have been diagnosed as severely emotionally disturbed; (b) who have exhausted existing available treatment resources or services; (c) whose severity of emotional, mental, or behavioral disturbance requires a comprehensive and …

The Continuum of Care shall perform the following duties and functions: (1) identify needs and develop plans to address the needs of severely emotionally disturbed children and youth; (2) coordinate planning, training, and service delivery among public and private organizations w…

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…