Policy News and Information for South Carolina's Children
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Bill Defining Child Torture Progresses in Senate
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The important but complicated work of defining child torture continues in the Senate, where a bill that balances medical and legal descriptions is headed to the Family and Veterans' Services Committee.
S.189
is widely supported in principle, but similar proposals have stalled in recent years because of the complexity of narrowing clear definitions. The bill aims to balance early identification with protections for victims while ensuring victims are not reunified with family-member perpetrators, as explained in this
Associated Press story
.
The bill defines torture in part as a pattern of assaults, psychological mistreatment or ignoring care that causes severe physical, mental or emotional pain over a period of time. This period of time could be one day, multiple days or longer depending on the specific case. The bill also defined penalties that could include 20 years to life in prison for a parent or guardian convicted of torturing a child.
Family and Veterans' Services Committee meets Wednesday, March 13, 9 a.m. at the Gressette Building, Room 207, with the child torture bill on the
agenda
.
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On the S.C. Legislative Radar
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Joint Citizens Legislative Committee on Children
The Joint Citizens Legislative Committee on Children met last week, when it heard about the troubling overlap between the juvenile justice and child welfare systems and how contact with one system magnifies the likelihood of encounters with the other. Ongoing work by the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) aims to improve communication with the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the families involved. DJJ recommended improvements to court processes, such as the assignment of a singular judge to each child’s case over its course.
Background Checks
Introduced in the Senate,
S.595
would require background checks every five years – including the national and state sex offender registries and the state child abuse and neglect registry – for any child care employee who works at an ABC voucher day care facility. It would also require checks for employees of group homes. This bill will put South Carolina in compliance with federal requirements for background checks to secure funding.
Safe Haven Law
Passed by the House,
H.3294
was introduced in the Senate and assigned to the Family and Veterans' Services Committee. The bill drastically expands the time allowed for parents to surrender a child under
Daniel’s Law
. The House voted to extend the law from 60 days to one year. This would allow any parent to relinquish a baby up to 365 days old to any Safe Haven location: hospitals, emergency medical services, centers of worship, fire stations and law enforcement facilities.
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Kinship Care Day Scheduled for March 19
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Event Salutes Caregivers and Supporters
The second annual Kinship Care Day will take place Tuesday, March 19, 10:45 a.m., at the State House. The program will highlight updates on current legislation like
S.191
and include state lawmakers, DSS officials, local kinship care supporters and kinship caregivers.
The bill was introduced in the House last week and assigned to the Judiciary Committee for further consideration. It broadens the definition of kinship care to include fictive kin, those with an emotionally significant relationship with a child or the family. It also aims to provide funds and services for fictive kin and kinship care families ahead of completion of their licensing requirements.
Yolanda Smith, the mother of former USC football player Marcus Lattimore, will be the keynote speaker at this event and share her family’s kinship care experiences. This
WIS-TV story
, which features comments from bill sponsor Sen. Katrina Shealy, explains the impact of kinship care.
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Program Support for Young Parents Highlighted
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As a partner of Children’s Trust Community Support for Young Parents initiative – funded through the U.S. Office of Adolescent Health’s Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) – the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy works with local partners in the state to develop programs and services that support young pregnant women and young parents.
This story, which was published on both the SC Campaign and
Children's Trust websites
, focuses on the work of one of those local partners, Family Outreach of Horry County.
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Policy Post is published by Children's Trust of South Carolina.
Children’s Trust of South Carolina is the statewide organization focused on the prevention of child abuse and neglect. We provide funding, resources and training to help local program partners build strong families and positive childhoods. Children’s Trust leads the state’s coordinated efforts for the Strengthening Families Program; Triple P (Positive Parenting Program); S.C. Adverse Childhood Experiences Initiative; Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting; Child Abuse Prevention Month; Child Well-Being Coalition; and KIDS COUNT.
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