Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-20-440

  • Client: is a person who is determined by the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs to have intellectual disability, a related disability, head injury, or spinal cord injury and is receiving services or is an infant at risk of having a developmental disability and is receiving services. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
  • Department: means the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
  • Director: means the South Carolina Director of the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, the chief executive director appointed by the commission. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Intellectual disability: means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
  • Related disability: is a severe, chronic condition found to be closely related to intellectual disability or to require treatment similar to that required for persons with intellectual disability and must meet the following conditions:

    (a) It is attributable to cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, or any other condition other than mental illness found to be closely related to intellectual disability because this condition results in impairment of general intellectual functioning or adaptive behavior similar to that of persons with intellectual disability and requires treatment or services similar to those required for these persons. See South Carolina Code 44-20-30
Subject to the availability of suitable services and programs and subject to the provisions of "Requirement for Admission to Services", "Order in which Person May be Admitted", and "Final Authority over Eligibility", the director or his designee may admit a client to the services of the department upon the written request of the parents of the person with intellectual disability, a related disability, head injury, or spinal cord injury, a parent with legal custody, spouse, lawful custodian or legal guardian, or the person with intellectual disability, a related disability, head injury, or spinal cord injury seeking to be admitted to the department’s services if the person is twenty-one years of age or over and competent to make the decision. The department shall prescribe the form of the application for services.