Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 63 > Chapter 7 - Child Protection and Permanency

• adequate health care: includes any medical or nonmedical remedial health care permitted or authorized under state law;
  
  (iv) abandons the child;
  
  (v) encourages, condones, or approves the commission of delinquent acts by the child including, but not limited to, sexual trafficking or exploitation, and the commission of the acts are shown to be the result of the encouragement, condonation, or approval;
  
  (vi) commits or allows to be committed against the child female genital mutilation as defined in § 16-3-2210 or engages in acts or omissions that present a substantial risk that the crime of female genital mutilation would be committed against the child; or
  
  (vii) has committed abuse or neglect as described in subsubitems (i) through (vi) such that a child who subsequently becomes part of the person's household is at substantial risk of one of those forms of abuse or neglect; or
  
  (b) a child is a victim of trafficking in persons as defined in § 16-3-2010, including sex trafficking, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child's welfare. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• 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. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• 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. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• 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. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Child: means a person under the age of twenty-one. See South Carolina Code 63-7-2820
• Child: means a person under the age of eighteen. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Child caring facility: means a campus with one or more staffed residences and with a total population of twenty or more children who are in care apart from their parents, relatives, or guardians on a continuing full-time basis for protection and guidance. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
• Child protective investigation: means an inquiry conducted by the department in response to a report of child abuse or neglect made pursuant to this chapter. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Child protective services: means assistance provided by the department as a result of indicated reports or affirmative determinations of child abuse or neglect, including assistance ordered by the family court or consented to by the family. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Childcare institution: means a private childcare institution, or a public childcare institution which accommodates no more than twenty-five children, that is licensed by the department. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Court: means the family court. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Social Services. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Department: means the Department of Social Services. See South Carolina Code 63-7-2820
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Emergency protective custody: means the right to physical custody of a child for a temporary period of no more than twenty-four hours to protect the child from imminent danger. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• Fictive kin: means an individual who is not related by birth, adoption, or marriage to a child but has an emotionally significant relationship with the child or the child's family. See South Carolina Code 63-7-2820
• Foster home: means a household of one or more persons who are licensed or approved to provide full-time care for one to five children living apart from their parents or guardians. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Guardian: means a person who legally has the care and management of a child. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
• 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.
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Indicated report: means a report of child abuse or neglect supported by facts which warrant a finding by a preponderance of evidence that abuse or neglect is more likely than not to have occurred. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Judge: means the judge of the family court. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legal custody: means the right to the physical custody, care, and control of a child; the right to determine where the child shall live; the right and duty to provide protection, food, clothing, shelter, ordinary medical care, education, supervision, and discipline for a child and in an emergency to authorize surgery or other extraordinary care. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Legal Guardian: means a person appointed by the court through the judicial establishment of a legal guardianship to become the caretaker of a child. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Legal Guardianship: means :
  
  (a) a judicially established relationship between a child and caretaker that is intended to be permanent and self-sustaining and transfers to the caretaker the following parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the child:
  
  (i) the duty to provide protection, support, food, clothing, shelter, supervision, education, and care;
  
  (ii) physical custody of the child;
  
  (iii) legal custody when family court has not awarded legal custody to another person, agency, or institution;
  
  (iv) the right to consent to marriage, enlistment in the armed forces, and medical and surgical treatment;
  
  (v) the duty and authority to represent the child in legal actions and to make decisions of substantial legal significance affecting the child;
  
  (vi) the right to determine the nature and extent of the child's contact with other persons; and
  
  (vii) the right to manage the child's income and assets. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Mental injury: means an injury to the intellectual, emotional, or psychological capacity or functioning of a child as evidenced by a discernible and substantial impairment of the child's ability to function when the existence of that impairment is supported by the opinion of a mental health professional or medical professional. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Near fatality: means an act of abuse or neglect that, as certified by a physician, places a child in serious or critical condition. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Parent: means biological parent, adoptive parents, step-parent, or person with legal custody. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
• Party in interest: includes the child, the child's attorney and guardian ad litem, the natural parent, an individual with physical or legal custody of the child, the foster parent, and the local foster care review board. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Physical custody: means the lawful, actual possession and control of a child. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Preponderance of evidence: means evidence which, when fairly considered, is more convincing as to its truth than the evidence in opposition. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probable cause: means facts and circumstances based upon accurate and reliable information, including hearsay, that would justify a reasonable person to believe that a child subject to a report under this chapter is abused or neglected. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• 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
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reasonable and prudent parent standard: means the standard of care characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, and best interest of a child while at the same time encouraging the growth and development of the child, that a caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow a child in foster care to participate in age or developmentally appropriate activities. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Relative: means an individual within the first, second, or third degree to a parent or stepparent of a child who may be related through blood, marriage, or adoption or through the establishment of a fictive kin relationship. See South Carolina Code 63-7-2820
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subject of the report: means a person who is alleged or determined to have abused or neglected the child, who is mentioned by name in a report or finding. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supplemental legal guardianship benefits: means monthly payments made by the department to a legal guardian pursuant to and after entering a written agreement with a relative or fictive kin to provide support for a child who without supplemental support may not achieve permanency through legal guardianship. See South Carolina Code 63-7-2820
• Suspected report: means all initial reports of child abuse or neglect received pursuant to this chapter. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Unfounded report: means a report made pursuant to this chapter for which there is not a preponderance of evidence to believe that the child is abused or neglected. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.