South Carolina General Assembly
124th Session, 2021-2022

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A28, R41, S229

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Shealy, McLeod, Hutto, Jackson, McElveen, Matthews and Gustafson
Document Path: l:\s-res\ks\009chil.sp.ks.docx
Companion/Similar bill(s): 3209

Introduced in the Senate on January 12, 2021
Introduced in the House on March 18, 2021
Last Amended on April 22, 2021
Passed by the General Assembly on April 29, 2021
Governor's Action: May 6, 2021, Signed

Summary: SC Child Abuse Response Protocol Act

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   12/9/2020  Senate  Prefiled
   12/9/2020  Senate  Referred to Committee on Family and Veterans' Services
   1/12/2021  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 227)
   1/12/2021  Senate  Referred to Committee on Family and Veterans' Services 
                        (Senate Journal-page 227)
   3/10/2021  Senate  Committee report: Favorable Family and Veterans' 
                        Services (Senate Journal-page 7)
   3/11/2021          Scrivener's error corrected
   3/16/2021  Senate  Read second time (Senate Journal-page 13)
   3/16/2021  Senate  Roll call Ayes-41  Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 13)
   3/17/2021  Senate  Read third time and sent to House 
                        (Senate Journal-page 14)
   3/18/2021  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 10)
   3/18/2021  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 10)
   4/21/2021  House   Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 13)
   4/22/2021  House   Amended (House Journal-page 16)
   4/22/2021  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 16)
   4/22/2021  House   Roll call Yeas-104  Nays-1 (House Journal-page 16)
   4/22/2021  House   Unanimous consent for third reading on next legislative 
                        day (House Journal-page 19)
   4/23/2021  House   Read third time and returned to Senate with amendments 
                        (House Journal-page 2)
   4/29/2021  Senate  Concurred in House amendment and enrolled 
                        (Senate Journal-page 39)
   4/29/2021  Senate  Roll call Ayes-43  Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 39)
    5/6/2021          Signed By Governor
    5/4/2021          Ratified R  41
   5/13/2021          Effective date  See Act for Effective Date
   5/13/2021          Act No.  28

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/9/2020
3/10/2021
3/11/2021
4/21/2021
4/22/2021


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A28, R41, S229)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, TO ENACT THE "SOUTH CAROLINA CHILD ABUSE RESPONSE PROTOCOL ACT" BY ADDING ARTICLE 24 TO CHAPTER 11, TITLE 63 SO AS TO REQUIRE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS INVOLVED IN CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION TO FOLLOW CERTAIN CHILD ABUSE RESPONSE PROTOCOL, TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO REVIEW AND UPDATE THE PROTOCOL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES; AND TO AMEND SECTION 63-11-310, RELATING TO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTERS, SO AS TO REQUIRE CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTERS TO HOLD CERTAIN ACCREDITATION STATUS OR BE ACTIVELY PURSUING ACCREDITATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

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

Citation

SECTION    1.    This act must be known and may be cited as the "South Carolina Child Abuse Response Protocol Act".

South Carolina Child Abuse Response Protocol

SECTION    2.    Chapter 11, Title 63 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 24

South Carolina Child Abuse Response Protocol

Section 63-11-2400.    In the investigation of a known or suspected crime against a child, a multidisciplinary team must follow the South Carolina Child Abuse Response Protocol as developed by the South Carolina Children's Justice Act Task Force and the South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Centers. Failure to comply with the South Carolina Child Abuse Response Protocol may not be used by the defense in any prosecution and is not grounds for dismissal of any criminal charge, nor does it provide any cause of action against any state agency, political subdivision, member of a multidisciplinary team, member of any prosecutor's office, member of any law enforcement agency, or law enforcement officer.

Section 63-11-2410.    (A)    The South Carolina Children's Justice Act Task Force and the South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Centers shall develop and provide initial training on the protocol and updated training as needed for this purpose. The protocol must be publicly available and must be annually reviewed and updated as needed by an advisory committee known as the Child Abuse Protocol Review Committee.

(B)(1)    The Governor shall appoint the members of the Child Abuse Protocol Review Committee and may consult with the South Carolina Children's Justice Act Task Force and the South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Centers in making his appointments. The committee shall consist of thirteen members as follows:

(a)    the Executive Director of the South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, or his designee;

(b)    one member from state law enforcement;

(c)    one member from county law enforcement;

(d)    one member from a solicitor's office;

(e)    the Executive Director of the Department of Social Services, or his designee;

(f)    one member who is the Medical Director of the South Carolina Children's Advocacy Medical Response System, or his designee;

(g)    one member from the State Guardian Ad Litem Program or Richland County Court Appointed Special Advocates;

(h)    one member from a school district;

(i)        one member from a statewide organization experienced in working with children with all disabilities;

(j)        the Executive Director of the South Carolina Police Chief's Association, or his designee;

(k)    the Executive Director of the South Carolina Sheriff's Association, or his designee; and

(l)        two at-large members.

(2)    The Department of Children's Advocacy shall convene the first meeting of the committee for the purpose of electing a chair and shall thereafter provide staff support to the committee. Members of the committee shall serve for terms of four years and may serve in a holdover capacity for up to six months after the expiration of their term, should a qualified successor not be appointed.

Section 63-11-2420.    The Department of Children's Advocacy shall maintain the protocol and the committee's updates to the protocol."

Children's Advocacy Centers

SECTION    3.    Section 63-11-310(B)(1), (C), and (D) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(1)    Children's Advocacy Centers must establish memoranda of agreement with governmental entities charged with the investigation and prosecution of child abuse. Children's Advocacy Centers must be fully accredited by the National Children's Alliance or must be an associate/developing or affiliate member of the South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Centers and be actively pursuing full accreditation with the National Children's Alliance within the next two years.

(C)    The South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Centers must coordinate and facilitate the exchange of information among statewide centers and provide technical assistance to communities in the establishment, growth, and certification of local centers. The network must also educate the public and legislature regarding the needs of abused children and provide or coordinate multidisciplinary training opportunities which support the comprehensive response to suspected child maltreatment.    "

Time effective

SECTION    4.    SECTION 1 and Section 63-11-2410(B), as added by this act, take effect upon approval by the Governor. The remaining provisions take effect one year after approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 4th day of May, 2021.

Approved the 6th day of May, 2021.

__________


This web page was last updated on June 14, 2021 at 8:45 AM