2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 63 - South Carolina Children's Code
CHAPTER 13 - CHILDCARE FACILITIES
Section 63-13-820. Registration requirements.

(A) Registration must be completed on forms supplied by the department and in the manner it prescribes.

(B) Before becoming a registered operator the applicant shall:

(1) sign a statement that he has read the suggested standards developed by the department under Section 63-13-180;

(2) furnish the department with a signed statement by each consumer parent verifying that the operator has provided each consumer parent with a copy of the suggested standards for family childcare homes and the procedures for filing complaints;

(3) upon request, provide the department with any facts, conditions, or circumstances relevant to the operation of the family childcare home, including references and other information regarding the character of the family childcare home operator.

(C) A person applying to become a registered operator of a family childcare home under this section, a person fifteen years of age or older living in the family childcare home, and any person fifteen years of age or older who moves into the family childcare home after the initial application for registration is approved shall undergo a state fingerprint review to be conducted by the State Law Enforcement Division to determine any state criminal history and a fingerprint review to be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine any other criminal history. The fingerprint reviews required by this subsection are not required upon each renewal.

(D) No applicant may be registered as an operator if the person, an employee, a caregiver, or a person fifteen years of age or older living in the family childcare home has been convicted of:

(1) a crime listed in Chapter 3 of Title 16, Offenses Against the Person;

(2) a crime listed in Chapter 15 of Title 16, Offenses Against Morality and Decency;

(3) the crime of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, contained in Section 16-17-490;

(4) the felonies classified in Section 16-1-10(A);

(5) the offenses enumerated in Section 16-1-10(D); or

(6) a criminal offense similar in nature to the crimes listed in this subsection committed in other jurisdictions or under federal law.

This section does not operate to prohibit registration or renewal when a conviction or plea of guilty or nolo contendere for one of the crimes enumerated in this subsection has been pardoned. However, notwithstanding the entry of a pardon, the department may consider all information available, including the person's pardoned convictions or pleas and the circumstances surrounding them, to determine whether the person is unfit or otherwise unsuited to be an operator, caregiver, employee, or to be living in the family daycare home.

(E) Application forms for registration issued under this section must include, at the top of the form in large bold type, a statement indicating that a person who has been convicted of a crime enumerated in subsection (D) who applies for registration as operator or a person who applies for registration as an operator who has a person fifteen years of age or older living in the family childcare home who has been convicted of a crime enumerated in subsection (D) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(F) Application forms for registration issued under this chapter by the department and application forms for employment at a family childcare home must include, at the top of the form in large bold type, a statement indicating that a person who has been convicted of one of the crimes listed in this section who applies for a license as operator, applies for employment with, is employed by, seeks to provide caregiver services with, or is a caregiver at a facility is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, Section 2; 2016 Act No. 263 (H.4262), Section 1, eff June 9, 2016.

Effect of Amendment

2016 Act No. 263, Section 1, in (C), added ", and any person fifteen years of age or older who moves into the family childcare home after the initial application for registration is approved" and made nonsubstantive changes.