BUILD South Carolina

Download South Carolina's 2015 BUILD State Profile

BUILD State Inception Year

2015

BUILD State Leads

Leigh Bolick, Division of Social Services, leigh.bolick@dss.sc.gov
Louise Johnson, Division of Mental Health, lkj40@scdmh.org
Barbara Manoski, Spartanburg First Steps, bmanoski@1steps.org
Rosemary Wilson, Division of Children's Health, wilsonr@dhec.sc.gov

Early Childhood System

Early Childhood Governance Structure: The Division of Early Care and Education, a division of the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS), manages all state and federal child care programs, and serves as the single point of contact for federal child care dollars in South Carolina. The mission of the division is to make quality child care available and affordable to parents.

The South Carolina Division of Early Care and Education consists of five major programs:

  • Child Care Licensing - Ensures the health and safety of children in child care facilities subject to laws and Licensing regulations. Licensing includes Fire and Health Safety.
  • The ABC Quality Program - South Carolina’s voluntary Quality Rating and Improvement System. 
  • The SC Voucher Program - Provides payments to child care providers serving children from low-income families.
  • Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) - Provides meal reimbursements to eligible child care and adult care providers for serving nutritious meals and snacks as a part of their program.
  • The Center for Child Care Career Development - The professional development system for South Carolina’s child care workforce.

The Head Start Collaboration Office is also housed within the Division.

The Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) is housed within the SC Office of First Steps, South Carolina's statewide early childhood initiative. The Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) grant is housed within the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Top 4 Early Childhood Areas of Focus in 2015

  1. Revision of the state's Quality Rating and Improvement System with specific attention to differentiated levels of quality, infant toddler standards, and early learning standards.
  2. Develop plans for early learning standards to be incorporated into the state's consumer awareness campaign.
  3. Support the development and launch of the ABC Quality public awareness campaign.
  4. Compliance planning for CCDBG Reauthorization.

Federal Grants

  • Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership State Grant - No state grant was received. $7,100,000 in annual grants were received by four community-based organizations in South Carolina.
  • MIECHV Grant - $6,492,893 competitive grant and $2,001,954 formula grant (FY 2015)
  • Team Nutrition Grant - $347,600

Other Grants

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Grant - $1,275,000

State Funds Supporting Early Childhood Programs/Initiatives

  • $7,000,000 to support CCDF
  • $46,645,330 to support 4K (South Carolina's Pre-K program)

Local/Regional Collaboratives: The Department of Social Services and First Steps have offices located in each county of the state.

State Government Leadership

  • Governor Nikki R. Haley (R)
  • State Legislature: House and Senate (both Republican controlled)

Key State Documents/Websites of Interest

ABC Grow Healthy 

South Carolina Program for Infant/Toddler Care’s Infant & Toddler Guidelines, Materials Guide and Field Guide

Population

  • Number of Children 0-5: 361,426 or 7.8% (2010)
  • Total State Population: 4,832,482 (2014) 
  • State Population Ranking: 24 (2014)
  • Number of Counties: 46 (2014)

Age 0-5 Population (2010)

  • White, Non-Hispanic: 52.6%
  • African American, Non-Hispanic: 31.6%
  • American Indian/Alaska Native, NH: 0.3%
  • Asian, Non-Hispanic: 1.3%
  • Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Isl., NH: 0.1%
  • Some Other Race, Non-Hispanic: 0.3%
  • Two or More Races, Non-Hispanic: 4.0%
  • Hispanic: 9.7%

Age 0-5 Poverty Population (2010)

  • Age 0-5 < 100% Poverty: 112,739 or 31.9%
  • Age 0-5 < 200% Poverty: 193,164 or 54.7%