(A) A child in the department‘s custody who is placed in a qualified residential treatment program is subject to assessment, case planning, and documentation requirements as outlined in this section.

(B) Within thirty days of the start of each placement in a qualified residential treatment program, a qualified individual shall:

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 63-7-1730

  • Child: means a person under the age of eighteen. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
  • Court: means the family court. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
  • Department: means the Department of Social Services. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Parent: means biological parent, adoptive parents, step-parent, or person with legal custody. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
  • Qualified individual: means a trained professional or licensed clinician. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
  • Qualified residential treatment program: means a childcare institution that:

    (a) has a trauma-informed treatment model that is designed to address the needs, including clinical needs as appropriate, of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders or disturbances and, with respect to a child, is able to implement the treatment identified for the child by the assessment of the child required pursuant to § 63-7-1730;

    (b) has registered or licensed nursing staff and other licensed clinical staff who:

    (i) provide care within the scope of their practice as defined by state law;

    (ii) are on-site according to the treatment model referred to in subitem (a); and

    (iii) are available twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week;

    (c) to the extent appropriate, and in accordance with the child's best interests, facilitates participation of family members in the child's treatment program;

    (d) facilitates outreach to the family members of the child, including siblings; documents how the outreach is made, including contact information; and maintains contact information for any known biological family and fictive kin of the child;

    (e) documents how family members are integrated into the treatment process for the child, including postdischarge, and how sibling connections are maintained;

    (f) provides discharge planning and family-based aftercare support for at least six months postdischarge; and

    (g) is licensed by the department and is accredited by any of the following independent, not-for-profit organizations:

    (i) Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF);

    (ii) Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO);

    (iii) Council on Accreditation (COA);

    (iv) Teaching Family Association;

    (v) Educational Assessment Guidelines Leading Toward Excellence (EAGLE); or

    (vi) another organization approved by the department. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20

(1) assess the strengths and needs of the child using an age-appropriate, evidence-based, validated, functional assessment tool approved by the department;

(2) determine whether the needs of the child can be met with family members or through placement in a foster family home or, if not, which placement setting would provide the most effective and appropriate level of care for the child in the least restrictive environment and would be consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child; and

(3) develop a list of child-specific short- and long-term mental and behavioral health goals.

(C) The department shall assemble a child and family team for the child. The qualified individual conducting the assessment required pursuant to this section shall work in conjunction with the child and family team while conducting and making the assessment.

(D) The child and family team shall consist of all appropriate biological family members, relatives, and fictive kin of the child, as well as, appropriate professionals who are a resource to the family of the child, such as teachers, medical or mental health providers who have treated the child, or clergy. In the case of a child who has attained age fourteen, the child and family team shall include the members of the permanency team selected by the child.

(E) The department shall document in the child’s case plan:

(1) the reasonable and good faith efforts of the department to identify and include all the individuals described in subsection (D) on the child and family team;

(2) all contact information for members of the child and family team, as well as contact information for other family members and fictive kin who are not part of the child and family team;

(3) evidence that meetings of the child and family team, including meetings relating to the assessment required pursuant to subsection (B), are held at a time and place convenient for family;

(4) if reunification is the goal, evidence demonstrating that the parent from whom the child was removed provided input on the members of the child and family team;

(5) evidence that the assessment required pursuant to subsection (B) is determined in conjunction with the child and family team;

(6) the placement preferences of the child and family team relative to the assessment that recognizes children should be placed with their siblings unless there is a finding by the court that such placement is contrary to their best interest; and

(7) if the placement preferences of the child and family team and child are not the placement setting recommended by the qualified individual conducting the assessment pursuant to subsection (B), the reasons why the preferences of the team and of the child were not recommended.

(F) In the case of a child who the qualified individual conducting the assessment pursuant to subsection (B) determines should not be placed in a foster family home, the qualified individual shall specify in writing the reasons why the needs of the child cannot be met by the family of the child or in a foster family home. A shortage or lack of foster family homes is not an acceptable reason for determining that the needs of the child cannot be met in a foster family home. The qualified individual also shall specify in writing why the recommended placement in a qualified residential treatment program is the setting that will provide the child with the most effective and appropriate level of care in the least restrictive environment and how that placement is consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child.

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