LEGISLATION

S. 805 (Act 160) Department of Children’s Advocacy – (2017-18) Created the SC Department of Children’s Advocacy and consolidated the following divisions into the department: Continuum of Care, the Cass Elias McCarter Guardian Ad Litem Program, and the Foster Care Review Board.

S. 196 (Act 33) Underage Marriage – (2019-20) Raised the minimum age of marriage to 16 years old with parental consent and abolished the “pregnancy loophole” for younger minors.

S. 222 (Act 168) Kinship Care Program – (2021-22) Allows relatives and fictive kin (an individual who is not related by birth, adoption, or marriage to a child/family but who has an emotionally significant relationship with the child/family), to become a kinship foster parent and provides for a process to enable relatives and fictive kin to become licensed foster parents. 

S. 1025 (Act 212) Birth Certificates for Foster Kids – (2021-22) Provides a process by which DSS may obtain birth certificates for foster children on behalf of the foster parent to assist with necessary functions like registering for school, enrolling in sports, and other programs. It further helps with the identification of homeless youth through this process.

S. 342 (Act 23) Homeless Youth Definitions – (2023) This legislation adds three definitions related to homeless youth to the Children’s Code. including “unaccompanied homeless youth”, “homeless child or youth”, and “youth at risk of homelessness. These definitions will help us accurately identify, count, and provide services to these youth so that they can avoid the path to human trafficking which is far more likely when you are not on our radar and can more easily disappear between the cracks.

S. 380 (Act 25) Kinship Guardianship Assistance – (2023) The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) expands upon the Kinship Care legislation passed in the 2021-22 session and signed into law. This makes it even easier for those kinship care families to take on a child, even if, for various reasons, they are unable or unwilling to seek the termination of parental rights and adopt the child. This adds a tool to the toolbox to help keep kids in a safe and healthy environment.

S. 891 (Act 199) Safe Sleep and SUIDS Information for New Parents – (2017-18) Required hospitals and DSS to provide information on safe sleep practices and the causes of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Syndrome (SUIDS) to new parents.

S. 595 (Act 52) Childcare Facilities – (2019-20) Strengthened background checks at childcare facilities, by updating a list of exclusionary offenses preventing individuals from being employed at childcare facilities, adding the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) National Sex Offender Registry to the check and required checks to be performed every 5 years.

S. 601 (Act 140) Group Home Background Checks – (2019-20) Required group home employees to undergo the same criminal background checks as foster parents and adoptive parents.

S. 231 (Act 45) Student Identification Card Suicide Prevention Act – (2021-22) Requires that public schools serving grades 7-12 and all higher education institutions print the Suicide Prevention Hotline, Crisis Text Line, and National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline phone numbers on student ID cards.

S. 571 (Act 22) Naloxone Prescriptions – (2021-22) Required a co-prescription for Naloxone to be issued when a health care provider writes a prescription for an opioid. Naloxone will save lives of people experiencing an overdose.

S. 1103 (Act 180) Child Identification Kits – (2021-22) This program provides an inkless child ID kit to every parent in SC and to the incoming Kindergarteners each year thereafter. These kits are sent home to parents so that they can collect and keep identifying information of their children in case they go missing. Parents can give these completed kits to law enforcement to aid in the location and/or identification of their child.

S. 341 (Act 10) Guardianship for Minors with Disabilities – (2023) Allows for a parent or guardian to petition the court within 180 days of their minor child’s 18th birthday for adult guardianship. Previously, a parent or guardian would have to wait until the child’s 18th birthday to file a petition for adult guardianship. 

S. 343 (Act 59) Crisis Stabilization Units – (2023) Allows minors 5-17 years of age to access crisis stabilization units in SC and to further authorize these services by entities other than the Department of Mental Health.

S. 407 (Act 78) Narcan OTC – (2023) Allows Naloxone/Narcan to be sold without a prescription and over the counter if and when the US Food and Drug Administration permits it to be sold as such (which it did in 2023).

S. 569 (Act 62) Alzheimer’s State Plan – (2023) Codifies in statute the requirement to maintain and update a statewide plan to address Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

S. 153 (Act 23) Disabled Veteran Tax Exemption – (2015-16) Provides a property tax exemption on a private passenger vehicle owned or leased by a disabled veteran’s surviving spouse.

S. 317 (Act 58) Veterans Trust Fund Reorganization – (2023) Reorganized the Board of Trustees for the Veterans’ Trust Fund of SC by reducing the total membership from 19 to 11 and prescribing the manner of appointments for each seat. This will help the board run more efficiently to better serve our veterans. The SC Veterans Trust Fund was established to receive charitable donations and provides grants to veterans’ service organizations, nonprofits, and other community partners serving veterans in South Carolina.

S. 170 (Act 183) Child Fatality Review Team – (2017-18) Requires the coroner in each county to schedule a Child Fatality Review Team within seven working days of a child death in their county. It further provides funding and training for coroners and sets forth confidentiality standards.

S. 289 (Act 96) SC Crime Victim Services Act – (2017-18) Helps crime victims get all of their services in one place. Restructured and consolidated victim services across state government into an office run by the Attorney General to include divisions as follows: Department of Crime Victim Compensation, Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants, Department of Crime Victim Services Training, Provider Certification, and Statistical Analysis, and Department of Crime Victim Ombudsman.

S. 227 (Act 151) Massage Therapy Practice Act – (2021-22) This new law is aimed at fighting human trafficking. Establishes a licensing requirement for massage therapists and provides for minimum training, inspections, and disciplinary protocols. 

S. 146 (Act 19) Sexually Violent Predator Act – (2023) Closes loopholes in the existing SVP laws, ensures residents who need to stay in the program - do, and codifies existing program practice to ensure that the public is protected from these abusers and predators.

S. 185 (Act 135) Funeral Service Providers – (2017-18) Provides consumer protections against false or misleading advertising by funeral service providers.

S. 533 (Act 209) Subminimum Wage Prohibition – (2021-22) Prohibited the use of Section 14(c) waivers which allowed certain businesses to pay people with disabilities wages below that of the federal or state minimum wage. It further set up a task force to monitor the transition away from these programs and to promote meaningful, integrated employment for people with disabilities.

S. 397 (Act 77) Athletic Trainers Licensure Act – (2023) Moves regulation of athletic trainers from DHEC to LLR and established a license and minimum requirements to obtain and maintain it. This will allow SC athletic trainers to legally practice in other states when traveling with a team when that state requires visiting trainers to be licensed.