Legislation: batch D — NY OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TX UT

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

legislation/us/states/sc/2025-2026/s-415.md

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+---
+type: "Bill"
+title: "Child Welfare Caregivers"
+description: "AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-20, RELATING TO CHILDREN'S CODE DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO ADD THE TERM \"LICENSED\"; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-9-1110, RELATING TO ADOPTION BY A STEPPARENT OR RELATIVE, SO AS TO APPLY TO CHILDREN PLACED WITH RELATIVES OR FICTIVE KIN FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADOPTION; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-2320, RELATING TO THE KINSHIP FOSTER CARE PROGRAM, SO AS TO LOWER THE MINIMUM AGE OF A KINSHIP FOSTER PARENT FROM TWENTY-ONE TO EIGHTEEN AND TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT TO USE DIFFERENT STANDARDS WHEN LICENSING RELATIVES AND FICTIVE KIN; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-2350, RELATING TO RESTRICTIONS ON FOSTER CARE, ADOPTION, OR LEGAL GUARDIAN PLACEMENTS, SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-2400, RELATING TO THE NUMBER OF FOSTER CHILDREN WHO MAY BE PLACED IN A FOSTER HOME, SO AS TO REMOVE THERAPEUTIC FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT LIMITATIONS FROM KINSHIP FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS. - RATIFIED TITLE"
+jurisdiction: "us/states/sc"
+legislature: "South Carolina General Assembly"
+session: "2025-2026"
+identifier: "S 415"
+citation: "South Carolina S 415 (2025-2026)"
+classification: ["bill"]
+subjects: []
+status: "enacted"
+primary_sponsors: ["Devine", "Elliott", "Ott", "Reichenbach", "Sutton", "Young", "Zell"]
+version_count: 6
+action_count: 20
+vote_count: 2
+first_action: "2025-03-04"
+last_action: "2026-03-05"
+source: "openstates"
+source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c1fc56c3-e91a-4a13-8a6f-c212fc8f993e"
+source_url: "https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=415&session=126&summary=B"
+source_hash: "e01897dd2f76c6b2ad23aaebafdb7c9ef18afadb9fb05dd54db0e224e5282340"
+vintage: "2026-07-01"
+source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
+retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
+confidence: "reported"
+tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-sc"]
+---
+
+# South Carolina S 415 (2025-2026) — Child Welfare Caregivers
+
+AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-20, RELATING TO CHILDREN'S CODE DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO ADD THE TERM "LICENSED"; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-9-1110, RELATING TO ADOPTION BY A STEPPARENT OR RELATIVE, SO AS TO APPLY TO CHILDREN PLACED WITH RELATIVES OR FICTIVE KIN FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADOPTION; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-2320, RELATING TO THE KINSHIP FOSTER CARE PROGRAM, SO AS TO LOWER THE MINIMUM AGE OF A KINSHIP FOSTER PARENT FROM TWENTY-ONE TO EIGHTEEN AND TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT TO USE DIFFERENT STANDARDS WHEN LICENSING RELATIVES AND FICTIVE KIN; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-2350, RELATING TO RESTRICTIONS ON FOSTER CARE, ADOPTION, OR LEGAL GUARDIAN PLACEMENTS, SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 63-7-2400, RELATING TO THE NUMBER OF FOSTER CHILDREN WHO MAY BE PLACED IN A FOSTER HOME, SO AS TO REMOVE THERAPEUTIC FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT LIMITATIONS FROM KINSHIP FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS. - RATIFIED TITLE
+
+## Version chain
+
+The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
+
+1. **Filed** (filed) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/415.htm)
+2. **02/03/2026** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/415_20260203.htm)
+3. **02/05/2026** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/415_20260205.htm)
+4. **03/04/2025** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/415_20250304.htm)
+5. **03/26/2025** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/415_20250326.htm)
+6. **03/28/2025** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/415_20250328.htm)
+
+## Votes
+
+- Passage of Bill — **109–0** (pass) · lower
+- 2nd Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
+
+## Sponsors
+
+- Devine — primary (person)
+- Elliott — primary (person)
+- Ott — primary (person)
+- Reichenbach — primary (person)
+- Sutton — primary (person)
+- Young — primary (person)
+- Zell — primary (person)
+
+## Timeline
+
+The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
+
+- **2025-03-04** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
+- **2025-03-04** Referred to Committee on Family and Veterans' Services `referral-committee`
+- **2025-03-26** Committee report: Favorable Family and Veterans' Services `committee-passage-favorable`
+- **2025-03-28** Scrivener's error corrected
+- **2025-04-01** Read second time `reading-2`
+- **2025-04-01** Roll call Ayes-45 Nays-0
+- **2025-04-02** Read third time and sent to House `passage, reading-3`
+- **2025-04-03** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
+- **2025-04-03** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
+- **2026-02-03** Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
+- **2026-02-05** Amended `amendment-passage`
+- **2026-02-05** Read second time `reading-2`
+- **2026-02-05** Roll call Yeas-109 Nays-0
+- **2026-02-05** Unanimous consent for third reading on next legislative day
+- **2026-02-06** Read third time and returned to Senate with amendments `passage, reading-3`
+- **2026-02-11** Concurred in House amendment and enrolled
+- **2026-02-25** Ratified R 103
+- **2026-02-27** Signed By Governor `executive-signature`
+- **2026-03-05** Effective date 02/27/26
+- **2026-03-05** Act No. 99
+
+## Source
+
+OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c1fc56c3-e91a-4a13-8a6f-c212fc8f993e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Carolina legislature records).
+