Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 63 > Chapter 7 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• 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
• 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
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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 eighteen. 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
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• Guardian: means a person who legally has the care and management of a child. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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
• 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
• 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.
• Parent: means biological parent, adoptive parents, step-parent, or person with legal custody. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
• Physical custody: means the lawful, actual possession and control of a child. See South Carolina Code 63-7-20
• 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
• 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
• 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