(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 eighteen years of age or older living in the family childcare home, and any person eighteen 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, a fingerprint review to be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine any other criminal history, a Central Registry check to be conducted by the department to determine any abuse or neglect perpetrated by the person upon a child, and a search of the National Crime Information Center National Sex Offender Registry and the state sex offender registry pursuant to Section 23-3-430. The fingerprint reviews required by this subsection are required to be repeated every five years.

(D) A person applying to become the registered operator of a family childcare home under this section, a person fifteen through seventeen years of age living in a family childcare home, and any person fifteen through seventeen years of age who moves into a family childcare home after an 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 required to be repeated every five years.

(E)(1) 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 an offense included in Section 63-13-40(A)(1).

(2) 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.

(F) 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 included in Section 63-13-40(A)(1) 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 included in Section 63-13-40(A)(1) 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.

(G) 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 Section 63-13-40(A)(1) 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.

(H) The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are authorized to retain and store fingerprints for further use in the identification of persons, including, but not limited to, use in identifying unsolved latent prints. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are authorized to provide the department with current and future information regarding the fingerprints stored, including arrests, convictions, dispositions, warrants, and other information available to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, such as civil and criminal information. The prospective employee or childcare facility shall be responsible for any fees associated with any and all required background checks. Fees shall not exceed the actual cost of processing and administration.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, Section 2; 2016 Act No. 263 (H.4262), Section 1, eff June 9, 2016; 2019 Act No. 52 (S.595), Section 8, eff May 16, 2019.

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.

2019 Act No. 52, Section 8, in (C), rewrote the first sentence, and in the second sentence, substituted "required to be repeated every five years" for "not required upon each renewal"; inserted (D), and redesignated (D) to (F) as (E) to (G); in (E), inserted the (1) identifier, inserted "an offense included in Section 63-13-40(A)(1)", deleted (1) to (6), which related to specific crimes, and inserted the (2) identifier; in (F), substituted "included in Section 63-13-40(A)(1)" for "enumerated in subsection (D)" in two places; in (G), substituted "Section 63-13-40(A)(1)" for "this section"; and added (H).