If you’ve been told to complete DSS Form 16156 for a South Carolina child care job, that form number doesn’t appear in the current Department of Social Services forms directory. The Central Registry consent form child care workers actually use is DSS Form 2924, which authorizes DSS to check you against the state’s Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry. Two related forms cover specific situations: DSS Form 2924-ABC for exempt facilities that receive federal child care block grant funding, and DSS Form 37201 for anyone who has lived outside South Carolina in the last five years. All three can be downloaded from scchildcare.org under the background check requirements section.
The consent form is only one piece of the clearance. You also have to be fingerprinted through IdentoGO so SLED and the FBI can run a criminal history check. Both parts have to be in motion before you can start caring for children.
Which Form Applies to You
Pick the form that matches where you’ll work and where you’ve lived:
- DSS Form 2924 is the standard consent for anyone seeking employment at a licensed, approved, or registered child care facility in South Carolina. Operators, caregivers, and household members over 18 in home-based facilities all use this one.
- DSS Form 2924-ABC is for people seeking employment at an exempt facility that receives Child Care Development Block Grant funding.
- DSS Form 37201 is for current out-of-state residents who lived in South Carolina within the last five years, and for South Carolina residents seeking child care work in another state. If you’ve lived in another state in the last five years, you need this one in addition to Form 2924 so the other state’s abuse registry can also be checked.
Filling Out DSS Form 2924
Form 2924 is a one-page consent document. The information it collects exists so DSS can match you against registry records, which means every field has to be accurate.
You’ll need:
- Your full legal name, spelled out — no initials.
- Any previous names you’ve used.
- Your Social Security number.
- Your date of birth.
- The registered name and license number of the child care facility where you plan to work.
Get the facility name and license number directly from your director or operator before you start filling the form in. The details have to match what DSS has on file, and a mismatch is the most common reason results come back slowly.
Sign and date the form. DSS will not run the registry check without your signature. If Form 37201 also applies to you, complete it at the same time.
How to Submit the Form
You have two options.
The faster route is the Online Central Registry and Database System at providerportal.dss.sc.gov. You can complete the consent form on screen, pay any associated fee online, and receive results through your account or by email. DSS prefers this method because it cuts out the transcription errors that paper forms introduce.
If you’d rather mail the paper form, send it to:
SCDSS
Child Care Licensing Central Office
PO Box 1520
Columbia, SC 29202-1520
Results go to the director of the child care facility, not to you. The director receives a notice stating only whether you’re cleared or prohibited from employment. The underlying registry findings are not shared with your employer. DSS now sends the clearance decision in a separate letter rather than writing it onto the submitted form, to protect your personally identifiable information.
Questions about the registry check go to the Central Registry Unit at CentralRegistryInfo@dss.sc.gov.
The Fingerprint Half of the Check
The Central Registry consent is only half of what South Carolina Code Section 63-13-40 requires. Every child care worker also has to be fingerprinted for a SLED state criminal history check and an FBI federal check before starting work, and those fingerprint checks are repeated every five years.
South Carolina’s Child Care Licensing division only accepts electronic fingerprints submitted through IdentoGO. The steps:
- Get your facility ID and ORI number from the regional licensing office that monitors your facility. You cannot schedule without them, and the wrong ORI number can send your results to the wrong place and force you to be reprinted.
- Go to identogo.com, select South Carolina, choose “Digital Fingerprinting,” then “Schedule a New Appointment.” Enter the service code your licensing specialist gives you. You can also call 1-866-254-2366.
- Enter your zip code to find the nearest enrollment center and pick a time.
- Complete the demographic page, filling every field marked with a red asterisk.
- Pay if the system prompts you. Some fingerprint reasons require payment at scheduling.
- Print your confirmation and bring it to the appointment along with a valid driver’s license, state ID, or passport. Have your Social Security number with you.
Your prints go straight from the enrollment center to SLED and the FBI electronically. Nothing has to be mailed on your end.
Starting Work Before All Results Are In
South Carolina allows provisional employment under narrow conditions. Once favorable results come back from either the state or the national fingerprint check, you can begin working while the remaining checks are still pending. Provisional work has to be approved by DSS, and a non-provisional staff member has to directly supervise you at all times while you’re with children.
Provisional status ends when every remaining check clears. If anything comes back disqualifying, your employment ends immediately. Facilities that leave provisional workers unsupervised risk licensing violations.
What Disqualifies You
You cannot be employed in a South Carolina child care facility if you appear on the National Sex Offender Registry, the state sex offender registry, or the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect. A conviction for any of the following also bars employment under Section 63-13-40:
- Crimes against persons under Title 16, Chapter 3 (including assault, homicide, and kidnapping offenses).
- Offenses against morality and decency under Title 16, Chapter 15.
- Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
- Unlawful conduct toward a child.
- Cruelty to children.
- Child endangerment, including the vehicle-related offense under Section 56-5-2947.
If you’ll be working at a facility that receives Child Care and Development Block Grant funding, additional federal disqualifiers apply, including convictions for murder, spousal abuse, rape or sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, felony physical assault or battery, and felony drug convictions within the preceding five years. Any violent misdemeanor committed as an adult against a child is a permanent bar.
If a Check Blocks Your Employment
You can challenge a disqualifying Central Registry result. For an in-state finding, contact the DSS county office where the original abuse or neglect report was made. That office explains the basis of the finding and walks you through the appeal. For an out-of-state registry hit, you have to appeal through the other state’s child abuse and neglect office; South Carolina DSS can’t overturn another state’s record.
If the problem is on the criminal history side, federal law gives you a window to dispute it. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, an employer who intends to deny you a job based on a consumer background report must first send you a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the screening company’s contact information. You generally have around five business days to challenge inaccurate information before the final decision is made.
Keeping Your Clearance Current
Fingerprint-based checks have to be repeated every five years for as long as you work in child care. A new employer may require fresh checks even if your current clearance hasn’t expired, so ask the new director or licensing specialist before assuming anything transfers. Hold onto confirmation pages, submission receipts, and clearance letters; if something goes sideways during processing or you change facilities, the paperwork saves time.