Governor warns South Carolina’s child welfare system is ‘reaching breaking point’ and calls for fixes

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) – South Carolina’s governor is warning that the state’s child welfare system is “reaching a breaking point.”

His comments came in response to the resignation of the head of the Department of Human Services, who is retiring in January.

Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters that he and his staff were trying everything they could to convince respected DSS Director Michael Leach to stay in his job.

But the governor said Leach’s decision to give up what McMaster calls a demanding and stressful job is another warning sign of pressing challenges facing South Carolina’s DSS-supervised child welfare system.

“It’s clear now that there are some flaws in our system and we’re going to have to fix them,” McMaster said.

One of those shortcomings, the governor said, is finding space for children and teens in need.

Sometimes this means foster care; in other cases, the juvenile justice system is the appropriate place.

But they often have nowhere to go as the Department of Juvenile Justice says its detention center in Columbia is full and foster care options are unavailable.

However, DSS must find a place for them where children and adolescents will come to them at any time of the day or night.

“They end up in the only place available, the DSS office, and that’s not the right place for that,” McMaster said. “…Clearly we have a problem that we cannot solve with the resources allocated to it today, so we will have to make some changes.”

In his resignation letter to the governor, Leach said he believed he had to serve DSS “during a chaotic time when people needed help more than ever.”

In his letter, he did not give a specific reason for leaving after five and a half years at the helm of the agency, but said he did not make the decision lightly.

“He’s been doing this for so long,” the governor said. “He has a young, growing family. They miss their dad.”

McMaster said all options are being considered to address the issue, but that would likely require more funding, which could go toward housing, for example, or even as an incentive for counties to reopen their juvenile detention centers.

The Greenville County Juvenile Unit closed in 2022 due to staffing shortages. Richland County made the decision this summer. close your business for the same reason.

That leaves Charleston as the only county in the state to have its own youth detention center in addition to DJJ’s in Columbia, a facility described by the state agency’s director. both overcrowded and unsafe.

DJJ did receive nearly $7 million in operating state funding to lease and operate the former Greenville facility, but it has yet to reopen.

“We’ve been working for a long time to try and answer this question and also the DJJ situation, so all this stuff with the young people and it’s clear they’re not getting better and it’s just another warning sign of how bad it is now , and the need to act is clear and obvious,” McMaster said.

The governor will also have to decide on a candidate to replace Leach as DSS director, saying it will be difficult to find anyone as experienced or better than Leach in the position.

He was recognized for significant strides in improving the state’s child welfare agency by increasing the number of public adoptions and foster children remaining with a family member or loved one.

Leach also oversaw improvements to the foster care system as a result of the 2016 settlement of Michelle H.’s lawsuit.

Leach’s replacement isn’t the only one McMaster will have to choose.

This week is the last week before retirement for Robert Kerr, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicaid and health insurance for South Carolina’s poorest children.