Related Agencies
The Division of Early Care and Education is a division of the South Carolina Department of Social Services that 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 child care more available and affordable to parents, and to increase the quality of care for all children in the state.
The Regional Early Acquisition of Language (REAL) Project is a collaboration between Gallaudet University’s Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center and Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB). They work in joint effort of the Gallaudet University Regional Center - South. They are headquartered at AIDB in Talladega, Alabama. The REAL Project serves eleven states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. In addition to these states, they also work within the two U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The South Carolina Child Care Inclusion Collaborative (SCIC) provides individualized training and technical assistance for child care providers to support the inclusion of children with disabilities/developmental delays in child care programs. Our Inclusion specialists work directly with child care staff and program administrators to increase the use of evidence-based practices that lead to access and meaningful participation for all children. Through active collaboration with partnering agencies and organizations, we help child care providers stay connected with resources and opportunities to increase the quality of care and education provided to children and families in South Carolina.
South Carolina operates an early hearing detection and intervention program called First Sound. This is how it works:
- South Carolina hospitals that birth an average of 100 or more babies per year screen each newborn baby for hearing and send the results to DHEC.
- Infants who do not pass the initial hearing screening in the hospital are referred for rescreening; this should be performed by the time the infant is one month old. The rescreening may be done at the birth hospital or at an audiologist's (hearing specialist) office.
- Infants who do not pass the rescreening are referred to an audiologist for a diagnostic hearing evaluation. The evaluation should be performed before the baby is three months old..
- Infants who are confirmed as deaf or hard of hearing are referred to BabyNet for early intervention services. Deaf or hard of hearing infants should begin early intervention by six months old.
DMH's mission is to support the recovery of people with mental illnesses. Through a Statewide network of community mental health centers, clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes the Department’s clinical staff provide a complete array of medical and support services for children, adults, and families throughout South Carolina. DMH believes that with the right treatment and support, recovery is possible.