Child Welfare

Citizen Review Panels By federal mandate, South Carolina must maintain independent panels of volunteer citizens to evaluate the state's child protection systems. On behalf of the Department of Social Services, The Center facilitates Panel activities, providing administrative and technical support.

DSS Open Enrollment We also develop and deliver training that is open to all DSS employees. Training falls into four main areas: Child Welfare, Adult Protective Services, Family Independence, and Foster Care.

Creating Child Welfare Professionals This program offers support to students earning the Master of Social Work degree at USC with a specialization in child welfare and a commitment to work with public service agencies.

Foster and Adoptive Parent Resources These programs and resources are designed specifically for foster and adoptive parents.

GOALL Go Out and Live Life is an advisory committee of adolescents in or recently out of foster care who make policy recommendations to DSS.

Independent Living Conference The Center manages this conference, which is designed to help youths in foster care prepare to live on their own.

Successful Adolescent Adoptions Through interviews with adoptive parents and adoptees, we have discovered some of the factors that contribute to successful adolescent adoptions and have made recommendations for services based on these findings.

Transitions This longitudinal study of adolescents in and recently out of foster care is designed to help DSS find out what these youths know, what they think they need, and how well they are doing once they leave foster care.