Senate subcommittee gives favorable report to housekeeping changes for Department of Children’s Advocacy

The South Carolina Senate Subcommittee on Child Welfare gave a favorable report to House Bill 3654 on a voice vote after testimony from Amanda Whittle, state child advocate and director of the Department of Children’s Advocacy.

The bill would amend several statutes to clarify that appointed guardian ad litem volunteers and the agency’s staff may share reports and information with county guardian ad litem program staff, the guardian ad litem division, and the state child advocate. It would also clarify staffing and reporting provisions for the foster care review board and the continuum-of-care division and specify that funding for the Department of Children’s Advocacy be provided in the annual general appropriations act.

Amanda Whittle, the state child advocate and director of the Department of Children’s Advocacy, told the committee the changes are largely cleanup to bring statutory language in line with current practice. “This has been a long time coming,” Whittle said. She explained the bill addresses an ambiguity in the confidentiality statute, noting that one paragraph refers only to an "appointed guardian ad litem" while other parts refer to the department, generating uncertainty about whether staff could access needed records. Whittle said the goal was to make the law read in “plain and ordinary meaning.”

Whittle also described statutory language tying the foster care review board’s division director to an at-will appointment by the governor, while in practice the position is treated as a regular full-time employee (FTE). She told the committee the Department already manages the position as an FTE and that the change would align the statute with current human-resources practice. “Our director has been hired as a full time employee since we started,” Whittle said. She told the panel there would be no fiscal impact from formalizing that status because the position already operates as an FTE.

Whittle further said the bill would consolidate annual reporting: the continuum-of-care division currently is required by statute to prepare its own annual report but had not consistently produced one. The Department of Children’s Advocacy has published an annual report and the bill would allow the department to absorb that requirement to avoid duplicate reports. Whittle described the consolidation as modestly cost-saving and useful for oversight: "It keeps us honest with ourselves, you know, as we set goals, we go back and look. Did we attain them?" she said.

The senator from Richland moved a favorable report; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The committee chair announced proxies from Senator Clyburn and Senator Cash, and the measure was carried to the full committee for further consideration.

No witnesses testified in opposition, and committee members asked only clarification questions about whether the bill made substantive policy changes; Whittle said it primarily clarifies statutory language and aligns statutes with current agency practice.

The bill and the testimony cited several statutory references discussed during the hearing, including Section 63-7-90 (confidentiality), Section 63-11-700 (foster care review board), and related provisions of Title 63 used to align language with current agency structure.

The subcommittee moved the bill to the full committee with a favorable report. The full text of the bill and its statutory amendments will be considered in subsequent committee action.