S 858

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 858
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
May 13, 2026
S. 858
Introduced
by Senator Young
S. Printed 5/13/26--H.  [SEC
5/14/2026 11:25 AM]
Read the first time March 4, 2026
________
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION 63-11-700, RELATING TO THE DIVISION FOR REVIEW OF THE FOSTER CARE OF
CHILDREN'S BOARD, SO AS TO CHANGE THE STANDARDS FOR SERVING ON THE BOARD AND
THE PROCEDURE FOR TERMS OF OFFICE; TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S
ADVOCACY TO ESTABLISH CERTAIN STANDARDS FOR LOCAL REVIEW BOARDS; BY AMENDING
SECTION 63-11-710, RELATING TO LOCAL BOARDS FOR REVIEW, SO AS TO GIVE THE
DIRECTOR AUTHORIZATION TO APPOINT OR REMOVE A MEMBER OF A LOCAL BOARD; BY AMENDING
SECTION 63-11-740, RELATING TO MEETINGS OF LOCAL BOARDS AND STAFFING, SO AS TO
REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO EACH LOCAL BOARD FOR MEETINGS;
BY AMENDING SECTION 63-11-760, RELATING TO IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY, SO AS TO
CLARIFY THAT TRAINING WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE DEPARTMENT; AND BY AMENDING
SECTION 63-11-770, RELATING TO COOPERATION OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AGENCIES, SO
AS TO INCLUDE ALL PUBLIC AGENCIES PROVIDING SERVICES TO CHILDREN IN FOSTER
CARE.
    Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Section 63-11-700 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
63-11-700. (A) There is created,
within the Department of Children's Advocacy, the Division
for Review of the Foster Care of Children Foster
Care Review Division. The division must be supported by a board
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,
all appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.
    (B)
Terms of office for the members of the board are for four years and until their
successors are appointed and qualify. Members may succeed
themselves, but a member shall not serve on the board in a holdover capacity at
the conclusion of his term for more than one hundred eighty days.
Appointments must be made by the Governor for terms of four years to expire on June thirtieth December thirty-first
of the appropriate year. Vacancies on the board
must be filled in the same manner as the initial appointment for the unexpired
term.
    (C)
The board shall elect from its members a chairman who shall serve for two
years. Five 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.
    (D)
The board shall meet at least quarterly and more frequently upon the call of
the division director to review and coordinate the activities of the local
review boards and make recommendations to the director, the
Governor, and 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 Section 63-11-720(A)(1) and (2). These recommendations
must be submitted to the Governor and included in an the department's annual report, filed with the General
Assembly, of the activities of the state office and
local review boards.
    (E)
The Department of Children's Advocacy, upon recommendation
of the division director, shall promulgate regulations to carry out the
provisions of this article.  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;  participating and intervening in family
court proceedings;  and developing policies for
summary review of children privately placed in privately owned facilities or
group homes; and the organization and administration of
local review boards to include board jurisdiction, membership standards, and
other necessary policies.
    (F)
The Department of Children's Advocacy may employ a division director and staff
as is necessary to carry out this article, and the funds for the division
director, staff, and other purposes of this division must be provided for in
the annual general appropriations act.
    (G) This article may not be construed
to provide for subpoena authority.
SECTION 2.  Section 63-11-710 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
63-11-710. (A) There are created sixteen The
department shall create local boards for review of cases of children
receiving foster care,
pursuant to Section 63-11-700(E). Members of local boards will be appointed by
the director upon the recommendation of their county legislative delegation.
Current board members shall continue to serve until the expiration of their
respective terms. 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.
    (B) A member of a local board who is
guilty of malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetency, absenteeism, conflicts of
interest, misconduct, persistent neglect of duty in office, or incapacity must
be subject to removal by the director upon any of the foregoing causes being
made to appear to the satisfaction of the director. Before removing any such
member, the director shall inform him and the local legislative delegation in
writing of the specific grounds for removal brought against him and give him an
opportunity on reasonable notice to be heard. The consent of the majority of
the local legislative delegation is needed to remove a member of a local board.
The state board may recommend to the director that a member of a local board be
removed pursuant to this section.
    (B) If the board of directors
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 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
article.
    (C) If the Department determines that
a local board is no longer necessary, then the department
may dissolve that local review board upon notice to the majority of the local
legislative delegation.
    (C) In Dorchester County,
appointments made pursuant to this section are governed by the provisions of
Act 512 of 1996.
    (D) In Georgetown County,
appointments made pursuant to this section are governed by the provisions of
Act 515 of 1996.
    (E) In the Fifth Judicial Circuit, the
members of one of the local review boards authorized pursuant to subsection (B)
must be appointed by the Kershaw County Legislative Delegation. The local
review board appointed by the Kershaw County Legislative Delegation shall be
the board in the Fifth Judicial Circuit which primarily deals with cases in
Kershaw County.
SECTION 3.  Section 63-11-740 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
63-11-740. Local boards shall conduct meetings in the
judicial circuit which they represent. Each board must be provided sufficient
staff The department shall provide administrative
and technical assistance to each board to perform its functions as set
forth in this article with funds provided in the annual state general
appropriations act. Members of the local boards and former
members substituting for an absent member may not receive compensation
for their services but must be allowed mileage, per diem, and subsistence as
provided by law for state boards, committees, and commissions for attendance at
board meetings. If needed to ensure a quorum at a board meeting, a current or former member of a local board may serve as a
substitute on a board other than his own board, whether or
not the substitute member is a resident of the judicial circuit of that board.
SECTION 4.  Section 63-11-760 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
63-11-760. After participating in a the training program provided by
the department of the system for the review of
foster care of children foster care review system,
a local review board member is not liable for damages for personal injury as a
result of an act or omission in the discharge of his duties as a member if he
acts in good faith and his conduct does not constitute gross negligence,
recklessness, wilfulness, or wantonness.
SECTION 5.  Section 63-11-770 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
63-11-770. All public and private agencies and facilities which provide for or
arrange foster care for children and all public agencies
providing services to children in foster care shall cooperate with make records
available for review as requested by the department,
the state board of directors, and or local review boards by making available for review records as may be requested.
SECTION 6.  This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.
----XX----
This web page was last updated on May 14, 2026 at 11:26 AM