South Carolina S 415: Child Welfare Caregivers

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 415 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 05, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 415

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

February 5, 2026

S. 415

Introduced by Senators Young, Elliott, Sutton, Ott, 
Devine, Reichenbach and Zell

S. Printed 2/5/26--H.

Read the first time April 3, 2025

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 63-7-20, RELATING TO CHILDREN'S CODE DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO ADD THE TERM 
"LICENSED"; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-9-1110, RELATING TO ADOPTION BY A STEPPARENT 
OR RELATIVE, SO AS TO APPLY TO CHILDREN PLACED WITH RELATIVES OR FICTIVE KIN 
FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADOPTION; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-2320, RELATING TO THE 
KINSHIP FOSTER CARE PROGRAM, SO AS TO LOWER THE MINIMUM AGE OF A KINSHIP FOSTER 
PARENT FROM TWENTY-ONE TO EIGHTEEN AND TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT TO USE DIFFERENT 
STANDARDS WHEN LICENSING RELATIVES AND FICTIVE KIN; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-2350, 
RELATING TO RESTRICTIONS ON FOSTER CARE, ADOPTION, OR LEGAL GUARDIAN 
PLACEMENTS, SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 
63-7-2400, RELATING TO THE NUMBER OF FOSTER CHILDREN WHO MAY BE PLACED IN A 
FOSTER HOME, SO AS TO REMOVE THERAPEUTIC FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT LIMITATIONS FROM 
KINSHIP FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS.

 Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 63-7-20 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
63-7-20. When used in this chapter or Chapter 9 or 
11 and unless the specific context indicates otherwise:

 (1) 
"Abandonment of a child" means a parent or guardian wilfully deserts a child or 
wilfully surrenders physical possession of a child without making adequate 
arrangements for the child's needs or the continuing care of the child.

 (2) 
"Affirmative determination" means a finding by a preponderance of evidence that 
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:

 (a) 
the court;

 (b) 
the Department of Social Services upon a final agency decision in its appeals 
process; or

 (c) 
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 Services, the court's finding must be the 
affirmative determination.

 (3) 
"Age or developmentally appropriate" means:

 (a) 
activities or items that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the 
same chronological age or level of maturity or that are determined to be 
developmentally appropriate for a child, based on the development of cognitive, 
emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities that are typical for an age or 
age group;

 (b) 
in the case of a specific child, activities or items that are suitable for the 
child based on the developmental stages attained by the child with respect to 
the cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities of the child; 
and

 (c) 
activities that include, but are not be limited to, the following:

 (i) 
sports;

 (ii) 
field trips;

 (iii) 
extracurricular activities;

 (iv) 
social activities;

 (v) 
after school programs or functions;

 (vi) 
vacations with caregiver lasting up to two weeks;

 (vii) 
overnight activities away from caregiver lasting up to one week;

 (viii) 
employment opportunities; and

 (ix) 
in-state or out-of-state travel, excluding overseas travel;

 (d) 
activities that do not conflict with any pending matters before the court, an 
existing court order, or the child's scheduled appointments for evaluations or 
treatment.

 (4) 
"Caregiver" means a foster parent, kinship foster parent, or employee of a 
group home who is designated to make decisions regarding age or developmentally 
appropriate activities or experiences on behalf of a child in the custody of 
the department.

 (5) 
"Child" means a person under the age of eighteen.

 (6) 
"Child abuse or neglect" or "harm" occurs when:

 (a) 
the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child's welfare:

 (i) 
inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the child physical or mental injury or 
engages in acts or omissions which present a substantial risk of physical or 
mental injury to the child, including injuries sustained as a result of 
excessive corporal punishment, but excluding corporal punishment or physical 
discipline which:

 (A) 
is administered by a parent or person in loco parentis;

 (B) 
is perpetrated for the sole purpose of restraining or correcting the child;

 (C) 
is reasonable in manner and moderate in degree;

 (D) 
has not brought about permanent or lasting damag