How to Fill Out and Submit SC DSS Form 1706 Background Questionnaire

SC DSS Form 1706 is the criminal background check questionnaire you must complete before working at any licensed, registered, or approved childcare facility in South Carolina. You fill it out in blue ink with your full personal information, a complete five-year residence history, and any criminal record, submit it through the DSS Provider Portal, and then schedule fingerprinting through IdentoGo. If the facility needs you to start right away, you may be able to work provisionally under direct supervision while the full results come back.¹

Who Has to File Form 1706

South Carolina Code Section 63-13-40 requires a comprehensive criminal background check for anyone employed by or providing caregiver services at a childcare center, group childcare home, family childcare home, or church or religious childcare center.² It also covers any childcare provider receiving Child Care and Development Fund assistance. The rule is not limited to lead teachers; it applies to all staff whose work involves unsupervised access to children.

Federal law reinforces this. Under 42 U.S.C. §9858f, states receiving Child Care and Development Block Grant funding must ensure background checks are completed for all childcare staff members, and refusing to consent makes you ineligible to work at any provider receiving that federal money.³

Form 1706 itself is for employees and caregivers. Household members over 18 in family childcare homes use a separate consent form, DSS Form 2924.⁴

How to Fill Out the Form

Print legibly in ink or type the form. Illegible forms get rejected. Sign and date the original and every copy in blue ink, not black. Answer every question; if a field doesn’t apply, write “None” or “N/A” instead of leaving it blank. Estimate a date you can’t recall exactly and mark it “APPROX.” or “EST.” Initial and date any correction you make after signing.¹

Personal Identifying Information

The first section asks for your full legal name (last, first, middle, suffix), date of birth, Social Security number, and place of birth, including city, county, state, and country if you were born outside the United States. You also provide physical descriptors: height, weight, hair color, eye color, and sex. List up to four other names you’ve used, including maiden names, former married names, or aliases, with the date ranges for each.⁵

Enter home and work phone numbers with area codes, your mother’s maiden name, citizenship status, personal email, and the facility’s email. The citizenship section has different instructions for people born in the U.S. or its territories, people born abroad to U.S. citizen parents, and non-citizens; follow whichever set applies to you. The form also asks for your IdentoGo Fingerprint Registration Number, which you receive when you schedule the fingerprint appointment.

Five-Year Residence History

List every address where you’ve lived during the past five years, starting with your current one. Every month must be accounted for, with no gaps. For each address, give the street address, apartment number, city, state (two-letter postal abbreviation), and ZIP code. Include the country name for any address outside the United States. If you run out of space, continue on a blank sheet with your name, Social Security number, and the question reference number at the top.¹

This history matters because DSS has to run criminal record, sex offender registry, and child abuse registry checks in every state where you’ve lived during the past five years.³ Gaps and inaccuracies slow everything down and can force you to redo the form.

Police Record

Disclose every arrest, charge, or conviction in your history except traffic fines under $150. For each entry, give the approximate date, the offense, the action taken (conviction, dismissal, charges dropped, and so on), and the law enforcement agency or court that handled it, with city, county, and state. If nothing applies, write “None.” Don’t skip the section.⁵

Certification and Authorization

The last section is a sworn statement that everything you’ve provided is true, complete, and correct. Knowingly making a false statement can result in a fine, imprisonment, or both. Your signature also authorizes DSS to pull information from schools, employers, criminal justice agencies, and other sources to verify your answers.⁵ Blue ink, and initial any corrections.

How to Submit It

Submit Form 1706 online through the DSS Provider Portal at providerportal.dss.sc.gov. The background check section sits under the DECE (Division of Early Care and Education) menu, and you’ll get a confirmation email once it goes through.⁶ The form should be submitted within two business days of a tentative job offer, or before you register for fingerprinting with IdentoGo, depending on the facility’s workflow.¹

If you don’t have access to a computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can download and print a paper copy from the SC Child Care Services website. Contact SC Child Care Licensing at (803) 898-9020 or centralofficechildcare@dss.sc.gov for help submitting on paper.¹

Scheduling Fingerprints With IdentoGo

Form 1706 is only part of the process. You also need electronic fingerprinting through IdentoGo, which handles both the state (SLED) and federal (FBI) fingerprint-based checks. Schedule at identogo.com or by calling 1-866-254-2366.⁴

Bring three things to the appointment: your facility’s unique ID number (provided by your regional DSS office), a valid state-issued ID such as a driver’s license, and your Social Security number. When you schedule, pick the correct ORI number for your agency. The wrong one delays results and can mean a second trip for new prints. The facility ID is specific to that facility and should not be shared with other childcare operations.

Working Provisionally While Results Process

You don’t necessarily have to wait at home for every check to clear. South Carolina allows provisional employment once you pass the initial SLED name-and-date-of-birth check, while the fingerprint-based SLED and FBI checks and the Central Registry check are still processing.² Two conditions apply:

You sign a department-provided form swearing you have not been convicted of a disqualifying offense and are not listed on the Central Registry as having abused or neglected a child.
You are supervised at all times by a nonprovisionally employed staff member whenever you provide direct care to children.

Provisional status expires immediately if the facility doesn’t send the requests for the Central Registry check and the fingerprint-based checks by the end of the next business day after hiring you.² If the full results come back with a disqualifying offense, employment ends.

Convictions That Disqualify You

Certain convictions permanently bar you from childcare employment in South Carolina. Under Section 63-13-40, a facility cannot employ or engage a caregiver convicted of any of the following:²

Crimes against persons under Chapter 3, Title 16, including assault, kidnapping, and homicide.
Morality offenses under Chapter 15, Title 16, covering sexual offenses and offenses against decency.
Contributing to the delinquency of a minor, unlawful conduct toward a child, cruelty to children, and child endangerment.
Felonies classified in Section 16-1-10(A), with a narrow exception for a first DUI offense that occurred at least ten years ago and meets additional conditions.
Offenses listed in Section 16-1-10(D) if the crime was a felony or the victim was a minor, and violent crimes under Section 16-1-60 under the same conditions.
Any requirement to register on the state or national sex offender registry.
Being listed on the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect as a perpetrator.
Equivalent out-of-state or federal offenses.

Federal law adds its own list of permanently disqualifying felonies: murder, child abuse or neglect, crimes against children, spousal abuse, rape or sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, and physical assault or battery. Drug-related felony convictions within the preceding five years also disqualify.³ A pardon does not automatically restore eligibility; the facility and DSS can still weigh the circumstances when deciding whether to hire you.²

Renewing Every Five Years

This is not a one-time filing. State and federal fingerprint-based background checks have to be repeated every five years for as long as you work in childcare, and your facility tracks when the renewal is due.⁴ If you change employers between cycles, your new facility will likely need to initiate a fresh check. Clearance at one facility does not automatically transfer, since each facility has its own unique ID in the system.

Refusing to consent, at the initial check or any renewal, makes you ineligible to work at any childcare provider receiving federal CCDF assistance. The same consequence applies if you knowingly provide false information on the questionnaire.³

1
South Carolina Department of Social Services. SC DSS Form 1706 – CCDBG Criminal Background Check Questionnaire
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 13 – Section 63-13-40
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 9858f – Criminal Background Checks
4
SC Child Care Services. In-State Background Check Requirements
5
South Carolina Department of Social Services. DSS Form 1706 – Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
6
South Carolina Department of Social Services. DSS Form 1706 Questionnaire Instructions