Bill 1511

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               1511
Ratification Number:       585
Act Number                 489
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                   Emergency protective custody of a
                           child

(A489, R585, S1511)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-610, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE CUSTODY OF A CHILD, SO AS TO REVISE THE DESIGNATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION, TO PROVIDE FOR CUSTODY WHEN THE CHILD'S PARENT, PARENTS, OR GUARDIAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED OR THE CHILD HAS BECOME LOST ACCIDENTALLY AND HIS WELFARE IS THREATENED DUE TO LOSS OF ADULT PROTECTION AND SUPERVISION, AND TO PROVIDE FOR PLACEMENT OF A CHILD AND A REPORT PURSUANT TO A CHILD PROTECTIVE INVESTIGATION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Designation of section provision

SECTION 1. Section 20-7-610(B) through (F) of the 1976 Code are relettered as (C) through (G).

Protective custody; arrest of parent or guardian; lost child

SECTION 2. Section 20-7-610 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"(B) Where a child's parent, parents, or guardian has been arrested or the child has become lost accidentally and as a result the child's welfare is threatened due to loss of adult protection and supervision, the child may be taken into protective custody pursuant to this section if:

(1) In the circumstance of arrest, the parent, parents, or guardian does not consent in writing within twenty-four hours to another person assuming physical custody of the child;

(2) In the circumstance of a lost child, a search by law enforcement has not located the parent, parents, or guardian within twenty-four hours.

No placement with a parent, an immediate family member, a guardian, or a relative is required under this subsection where the law enforcement officer believes in good faith that the placement would expose the child to harm as defined in Section 20-7-490(C) or if the individual cannot or will not take placement of the child within twenty-four hours.

Where a child is held awaiting placement for up to twenty-four hours under this subsection, the local department of social services shall provide up to twenty-four hours of shelter for the child in a licensed foster home or shelter. While the child is under care for this twenty-four hour period in a designated foster home the local department of social services may provide for the routine needs of the child. Upon expiration of the twenty-four hour period during which the child awaits placement and where there is no alternative placement determined by law enforcement to be available under this subsection, the law enforcement officer shall take protective custody of the child as a dependent child or as a suspected abused and neglected child and shall comply with all other provisions of this section. Law enforcement and the South Carolina Department of Social Services jointly shall develop uniform procedures to ensure the orderly implementation of the requirements of this subsection, and those procedures must be submitted to the joint legislative committee on children within sixty days of this subsection's effective date."

Child protective investigation; placement; report

SECTION 3. Section 20-7-610(D) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 546 of 1988, is further amended to read:

"(D) The local child protective service agency, upon the notification, shall begin a child protective investigation, including immediate attention to the protection of other children in the home, or other setting where the child was found. The agency then shall initiate a removal proceeding pursuant to Section 20-7-736 on or before the next working day in the appropriate family court. Upon a determination by the agency before the pretrial hearing that the basis of the report of abuse or neglect is unfounded, the agency may place temporary physical custody of the child with the parent, parents, guardian, immediate family member, or relative, with the agency retaining legal custody pending the pretrial hearing. When the facts and circumstances of the report clearly indicate that no abuse or neglect occurred, the report promptly must be determined to be unfounded, and the agency shall exercise reasonable efforts to expedite the placement of the child with the parent, parents, guardian, immediate family member, or relative. The family court shall schedule a pretrial hearing to be held within ten days of the initiation of the proceedings, unless the tenth day falls upon a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, then the pretrial hearing must be held no later than the next working day. If there is no term of court in the county when the pretrial hearing must be held, the hearing must be held in another county in the circuit. If there is no term of family court in another county in the circuit, then the pretrial hearing must be heard in another court in an adjoining circuit. At the pretrial hearing, the family court shall undertake to fulfill the requirements of Section 20-7-110 and shall conduct a prima facie review of emergency action taken or initiated in behalf of the child. At the pretrial hearing, the respondents may submit affidavits as to facts which are alleged to form the basis of the removal and to cross-examine the agency's witnesses as to whether there existed probable cause to effect emergency removal. The hearing to determine whether removal of custody is needed, pursuant to Section 20-7-736, must be held within forty days of the date of receipt of the removal petition."

Time effective

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Approved the 29th day of May, 1990.