New law will have impact on child care across South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - South Carolina leaders have pledged to do more to ensure every family has access to high-quality and affordable child care.
Now a new law just went into effect to address this challenge.
Legally mandated staff-to-child ratios often dictate how many kids can attend a child care center.
So if a center has trouble hiring, that means fewer children can be enrolled there.
“One of the things we hear, as the state agency that’s responsible for the regulation and health and safety of child care centers in South Carolina, is that these centers have issues and difficulty finding workers who are willing and able and qualified to work in child care,” said Connelly-Anne Ragley with the South Carolina Department of Social Services.
S.C. law limits kids’ access to some books in public libraries
Public libraries across South Carolina are now under a new mandate to restrict children’s access to certain books.
This new law removes a previous requirement that newly hired workers at child care centers have six months’ experience or be directly supervised by an experienced co-worker for six months.
This law reduces that direct supervision period to 30 days.
It also expands the options for child care providers to fill educational requirements – to give more potential workers an opportunity to fill jobs.
Before, child care providers had to have a high school diploma or GED.
This law expands that to also include people with a Certificate of Completion or a South Carolina High School Employability Credential – which could help people with disabilities fill these critical and open positions.
South Carolina lawmakers kill legislation targeting teaching
In a turn of events that some at the State House, including lawmakers, call shocking, a bill to restrict what can be taught in South Carolina classrooms won’t become law after all.
“This will not only increase the employment rate for people with disabilities in South Carolina, but it will also fit that gap for the need for childcare workers,” said Kimberly Tissot, president and CEO of Able South Carolina.
The Department of Social Services says this law will also strengthen training for child care providers by requiring they complete 15 hours of health and safety training within 30 days of being employed.
This new law does not add any new requirements for workers already employed at a child care facility in South Carolina – only for new hires.
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