Continuum of Care (COC) provides intensive care coordination called High Fidelity Wraparound to children with serious emotional, behavioral, and psychiatric issues. The process helps these youth remain in their homes, schools, and communities, reducing trauma for both them and their families.
Through these services, COC is able to decrease the number of children under care of the state, either through foster care or the juvenile justice system.
Accountability for the foster care system in South Carolina comes from the Foster Care Review Board (FCRB), citizens who are appointed by the governor to advocate on behalf of and seek permanent homes for children who have been in foster care for a minimum of four continuous months.
The Foster Care Review Division (FCRD) ensures successful reviews occur by working to coordinate meetings, paperwork, and attendance with all necessary parties.
The Cass Elias McCarter Guardian ad Litem Program (GAL) recruits, trains, and assigns volunteer guardians ad litem for every child involved in a Department of Social Services abuse and neglect case in family court, including children in foster care.
GALs provide recommendations to the court that are in the best interest of the child, helping the judge make an informed decision about the child's future. They are a stable presence in the child's life, remaining on the case until the child finds a safe, permanent home.
The South Carolina Heart Gallery (SCHG), a program of the Foster Care Review Division, works to find forever families for children in foster care who are legally free and awaiting adoption.
SCHG partners with volunteer photographers to take photos of the children at scenic locations around the state. Staff share the photos on the SCHG's website and social media accounts, partner with media outlets, and work with public and nonprofit organizations to host art exhibits of the framed portraits.
The System Improvement Division (SI) consists of two separate units that ensure children across South Carolina are receiving adequate protection and care from child-serving state agencies:
The Investigations Unit (IU) receives, refers, monitors, and/or investigates complaints made by the public against nine child-serving state agencies. In individual cases, the investigations team advocates for services children should be--but are not--receiving.
It also identifies areas needing improvement on a systemic level and brings those deficiencies to the attention of agency leadership.
The Critical Investigations Unit (CIU) handles "critical incident notifications" that are reported directly by nine child-serving state agencies. These notifications typically involve severe harm to a child in the custody of the state.