The Richland County Child and Youth Services unit presented its 2024 activity review to the Community and Health Services Standing Committee, reporting volumes for child-protective services, youth justice referrals and family placements.

Manager Britney Wirtz said the unit received 253 child-protective services (CPS) reports in 2024 covering 408 alleged victims; 71 reports were screened in for initial assessments or investigations. The unit received 75 child-welfare prevention reports and screened 63 of those in to offer services. Youth-justice referrals numbered 31 in 2024; 13 were counseled and closed while 16 resulted in formal petitions to the court, with two pending at the time of the report.

Wirtz described foster-care and kinship activity: the county had zero licensed foster homes in 2024 and continued to lack in-county foster capacity. Staff increased outreach and promoted foster licensing efforts but said recruitment remains a statewide challenge. The unit filed one guardianship, two termination-of-parental-rights petitions, and reported 21 ongoing kinship and non-subsidized guardianship cases in 2024 (three of which closed or aged out).

The unit emphasized safety planning to keep children with biological family where possible and noted coordination with neighboring counties for placements when in-county options are unavailable. Wirtz said the unit also runs youth-empowerment programming (YES) and other prevention efforts. Committee members asked about staffing and whether other counties offer dedicated foster-care recruiters; Wirtz said surrounding counties have staff time devoted to foster-care recruitment and that time constraints are a major barrier to local recruitment.

No committee action was taken; the report will inform future outreach and budget priorities related to foster-care licensing and family-support services.