As used in this chapter:

(1) "Adaptive parenting equipment" means equipment or any other item that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the parenting capabilities of a person with a disability.

(2) "Adaptive parenting techniques" means strategies for accomplishing childcare and other parenting tasks that enable a person with a disability to execute a task safely for themselves and their children alone or in conjunction with adaptive parenting equipment.

(3) "Adoption" has the same meaning as provided for in Chapter 9, Title 63.

(4) "Child custody proceeding" means a proceeding in family or probate court in which a third party is seeking to be awarded temporary or permanent legal or physical custody of a child to obtain legal guardianship of a child, or to limit or deny visitation of a parent or legal guardian with a child, including an action filed by the other parent.

(5) "Child protection proceeding" means a proceeding in family court provided for in Chapter 7, Title 63 relating to protection of children from abuse or neglect, access to services and other support for parents to preserve or reunify the family, and permanency planning for children whose parents are unable or unwilling to parent adequately.

(6) "Child placing agency" has the same meaning as provided for in Section 63-9-30.

(7) "Covered entity" has the same meaning as provided for in the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended.

(8) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

(9) "Disability" means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual, a record of an impairment, or being regarded as having an impairment, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, and as interpreted broadly under that act. An individual who is currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs or the abuse of alcohol, drugs or other substances is not an individual with a "disability" for purposes of this chapter.

(10) "Supportive services" means services that help a person with a disability compensate for those aspects of the disability that affect the ability to care for a child and that enables the person to fulfill parental responsibilities including, but not limited to, specialized or adapted training, evaluations, and assistance with effective use of adaptive equipment, and accommodations that enable a person with a disability to benefit from other services, such as braille text or sign language interpretation.

HISTORY: 2017 Act No. 36 (H.3538), Section 2, eff May 10, 2017.