(A) Regular approvals may be renewed upon application and approval. Notification of a childcare center or group childcare home regarding renewal is the responsibility of the department.

(B) Application for renewal must be made on forms supplied by the department and in the manner it prescribes.

(C) Before renewing an approval the department shall conduct an investigation of the childcare center or group childcare home. If the results of the investigation verify that the provisions of this chapter and the applicable regulations promulgated by the department are satisfied, the approval must be renewed. The operator shall cooperate with the investigation and related inspections by providing access to the physical plant, records, and staff. If the operator's statement of approval cannot be renewed, the appropriate public officials must be notified.

(D)(1) A person applying for approval renewal under this section, a person who will operate the facility, and its employees and caregivers, who have not done so previously, on the first approval renewal after June 30, 1995, 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 person shall be subject to a state criminal register or repository check, a state sex offender check, and a state child abuse and neglect registry and database check in each state where the person has lived in the previous five years.

(2) No approval may be renewed under this section if the person applying for renewal, the operator of the facility, or an employee or a caregiver has been convicted of any of the offenses included in Section 63-13-40(A)(1).

(3) This section does not prohibit 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 as an applicant or to be an operator, caregiver, or employee.

(E) Application forms for renewal of a statement of standard conformity or approval 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 Section 63-13-40(A)(1) who applies for approval renewal 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) No facility may employ or engage the services of an employee or a caregiver who has been convicted of one of the crimes listed in Section 63-13-40(A)(1).

(G) Application forms for renewal of a statement of standard conformity or approval issued under this article by the department for individual public childcare centers or group childcare homes 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; 2019 Act No. 52 (S.595), Sections 6.A, 6.B, eff May 16, 2019.

Effect of Amendment

2019 Act No. 52, Section 6.A, in (D), inserted the (1) identifier, rewrote the first sentence and added the second sentence, inserted the (2) identifier and inserted "any of the offenses included in Section 63-13-40(A)(1)", deleted (1) to (6), which related to specific crimes, and inserted the (3) identifier; in (E), substituted "Section 63-13-40(A)(1)" for "subsection (D)"; in (F), substituted "Section 63-13-40(A)(1)" for "this section"; and in (G), substituted "Section 63-13-40(A)(1)" for "this section".

2019 Act No. 52, Section 6.B, added (H).