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Lawmakers press agency on foster care review board vacancies and possible regional model
Summary
Members of the oversight subcommittee and Director Amanda Whittle discussed persistent vacancies on county foster care review boards, the boards' semi-independent status, Richland County's separate CASA program and options including a judicial-circuit or state panel model.
Amanda Whittle told the Legislative Oversight Subcommittee that South Carolina's foster care review boards are nominated by legislative delegations and appointed by the governor, but the Department of Children's Advocacy provides administrative support rather than direct oversight.
"The foster care review boards do review the cases of children in foster care once every 6 months," Whittle said, describing the boards' role in issuing recommendations that are placed in case files and shared with family court judges.
Senators raised concerns about vacancies and quorum problems in smaller counties, which can delay case reviews and recommendations to judges. Whittle said vacancy data are maintained on the Department of Children's Advocacy website and that agency staff have offered informational sessions and worked with the governor's office on appointment processes.
The committee discussed whether the current county-by-county model is the best approach. Whittle floated alternatives including a judicial-circuit or statewide panel composed of members with specific expertise (for example, pediatricians, coroners, or people with lived experience). "Maybe developing an idea that you have a foster care review board of 21 people, and within that 21 person panel, you have a pediatrician, you know, a child abuse pediatrician," she said.
Richland County's CASA program remains county-run and "grandfathered" from earlier arrangements, Whittle told the panel. She said bringing Richland County CASA into the state Guardian ad Litem program would require statute changes, county action and a transfer of county employees to state employment. She said Dante Roberts, executive director of Richland County CASA, had asked about the logistics of such a move.
Whittle said the Foster Care Review Division also administers the South Carolina Heart Gallery to promote adoptive homes and that agency staff have worked with DSS to build a portal so board recommendations flow into DSS's case-management system.
