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This Regulation shall become effective on September 12, 2021. HISTORY: Amended by State Register Volume 27, Issue No. 3, eff March 28, 2003; SCSR 44–6 Doc. No. 4901, eff June 26, 2020; SCSR 45–5 Doc. No. 5023, eff September 12, 2021; SCSR 47–5 Doc. No. 5110, eff May 26, 2023. Historical Note See SCSR 46–6 Doc. No. 5107, effective June 1, 2022 for 90 days, which promulgated an emergency amendment to SC ADC 114–550, providing appropriate standards concerning swimming pools, wading pools, hot tubs, and spas in family foster homes and adoptive homes to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children in these homes and minimizing a financial deterrent associated with installing suitable barriers around swimming and wading pools to licensing foster and adoptive homes. See SCSR 46–9 Doc. No. 5122, effective August 29, 2022 for 90 days, which promulgated an emergency amendment to SC ADC 114–550, providing appropriate standards concerning swimming pools, wading pools, hot tubs, and spas in family foster homes and adoptive homes to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children in these homes and minimizing a financial deterrent associated with installing suitable barriers around swimming and wading pools to licensing foster and adoptive homes. 114–551. Kinship Foster Family Home and Kinship Adoptive Home Standards. A. Policy and Application. (1) When applying the standards outlined in these regulations, the department prioritizes assess- ment of child and family strengths and needs, and aids in meeting identified needs and overcoming barriers to licensure to the extent reasonably possible. (2) Regulation 114–551 applies to decisions related to licensing kin, kinship foster family homes, and kinship adoptive homes. In accordance with S.C. Code Section 63–7–910(D), private agencies that license homes to receive children who are the legal custody of the department shall apply and enforce these regulations in the same manner as the department and in accordance with state and federal law. Kin, kinship foster family, and kinship adoptive homes licensed in accordance with these regulations receive the same benefits and services provided to unrelated licensed foster and adoptive parents and homes, including financial support and other supportive services. B. Nondiscrimination Statement. In accordance with the Federal Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA), the Department of Social Services must not deny to any individual the opportunity to become a foster or adoptive parent based on the race, color, or national origin of the individual, or of the child. MEPA also provides that this law shall not be construed to adversely affect the application of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which contains preferences for the placement of eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Children in foster care, guardianship, or adoptive homes. Further, the department must not discriminate regard- ing the application or licensure of a kinship foster family or kinship adoptive family on the basis of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. C. Definitions. When used in these regulations and unless specific context indicates otherwise: (1) ‘‘Court’’ means the family court. (2) ‘‘Department’’ means the South Carolina Department of Social Services. (3) ‘‘FBI’’ means Federal Bureau of Investigation. (4) ‘‘Kinship foster family home’’ means the private home of an individual or family that is licensed by the department and in which a child in foster care has been placed in the care of an individual; who resides with the child; who has been licensed by the department to be a foster parent that the department deems capable of adhering to the reasonable and prudent parent standard defined in S.C. Code Section 63–7–20; that provides 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or other caretakers; and that provides care for children subject to capacity limitations set forth in S.C. Code Section 63–7–2400. (5) ‘‘Household member’’ means any kin or nonrelative age 18 or older who regularly lives, shares common areas, and sleeps in the home. An individual who is living, sharing common areas, and sleeping in the home temporarily for more than 2 consecutive weeks is considered a household member.