SC DSS Central Registry Check: Requirements, Process, and Fees

A South Carolina DSS central registry check searches the state’s confidential database of people a family court has found to have abused or neglected a child. You request one by submitting DSS Form 3072 with an $8 fee (or $25 for for-profit entities and private adoptions), either through the DSS provider portal at providerportal.dss.sc.gov or by mail to the department in Columbia. Results usually come back within 30 to 60 days.¹

Who Needs This Check

South Carolina law requires a central registry check for anyone seeking to work at or provide caregiver services at a licensed, registered, or approved childcare facility. That includes daycare centers, group childcare homes, family childcare homes, and church or religious childcare centers.²

The check is also standard for foster care and adoption applicants, employees of child welfare agencies, and individuals who have gone through a legal name change and were previously checked. The DSS provider portal sorts requestors into three groups:³

Licensed childcare facilities and ABC Quality license-exempt providers, which must create a portal account and submit checks electronically.
Child welfare providers handling adoptions, foster care, or related functions.
Infrequent or one-time requestors, such as people needing a check for a name change, private adoption, out-of-state childcare employment, or SC Voucher family participation.

If you have lived in another state within the past five years, you’ll also need a child abuse registry check from each of those states, along with the corresponding criminal and sex offender checks.²

What You Need to Submit

Every request runs on DSS Form 3072, titled “Request for Central Registry and/or Child Abuse Record Check.” The form asks for the subject’s full legal name and any former names or aliases, date of birth, Social Security Number, and a complete address history covering the past seven years. It has to carry the applicant’s original signature, either witnessed or notarized, consenting to the search and release of results.¹

Submitting Online

The DSS provider portal at providerportal.dss.sc.gov lets you complete the form electronically, pay the fee online, and receive results by email or through your account.⁴ Licensed childcare facilities and ABC Quality license-exempt providers are required to use the portal rather than paper. Online submissions tend to move faster because they skip postal handling and manual data entry.

Submitting by Mail

To mail your request, send the completed Form 3072, payment by check or money order made out to the South Carolina Department of Social Services, and a stamped self-addressed envelope to:¹

South Carolina Department of Social Services
Attention: Cashier
1535 Confederate Avenue
P.O. Box 1520
Columbia, SC 29202-1520

Cash and credit cards are not accepted. Leaving out the self-addressed envelope is a common cause of delayed results.

Fees

The fee depends on who is asking:¹

$8 for non-profit entities, state agencies, schools, adult care facilities, foster care and adoption applicants, name changes, and individual requests.
$25 for for-profit entities and private adoption investigations.

How Long It Takes and What Comes Back

Form 3072 warns that cases requiring additional research may take 30 to 60 days.¹ Online submissions generally return faster. A clear result means the person’s name does not appear in the registry. A match means the person has a court-ordered entry for abuse or neglect, which generally disqualifies them from childcare and other child-serving positions. Results arrive by email or portal notification for online requests, and by letter for mailed ones.

The Registry Check Is Only Part of Childcare Hiring

If you are running this check because you’re being hired at a childcare facility, be aware the registry check alone is not enough. South Carolina law also requires a state fingerprint-based criminal history check through SLED, a federal fingerprint check through the FBI, and searches of both the National Crime Information Center sex offender registry and the state sex offender registry. All four results are valid for five years, and must be redone sooner if the person has a gap of six months or more without working in a childcare setting.²

There is a provisional employment option. A person can start work at a childcare facility after clearing the SLED and FBI fingerprint checks, even while the central registry results are still pending. The provisionally employed person must sign a sworn statement that they have no disqualifying convictions and are not on the central registry, and they must be directly supervised at all times by a non-provisional employee.²

If Your Name Is on the Registry

Names go on the registry only by court order, either through a DSS petition to family court or a finding during a child protection hearing.⁵ If DSS determines a report is “indicated” and enters your name, you have the right to appeal. DSS must send notice by certified mail, and you have 30 days from receipt to respond in writing with your intent to appeal. Miss that window and you waive the right entirely.⁶

The appeal runs in two stages. A DSS official conducts an interim review within 14 days of receiving your notice of intent. If that review finds the determination is not supported by a preponderance of evidence, your name is removed. If it is upheld, the case moves to a contested case hearing before a hearing officer appointed by the State Director, applying the same preponderance-of-evidence standard.⁶

One limit: if a family court has already determined that you were responsible for the abuse or neglect, the administrative appeal is not available. The court’s finding controls, and DSS will terminate any pending appeal if a court reaches that conclusion after the process has started. If a report is later found to be unfounded, DSS must immediately purge identifying information from the registry and department records.⁶

1
South Carolina Department of Social Services. DSS Form 3072 – Request for Central Registry and/or Child Abuse Record Check
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-13 – Childcare Facilities
3
South Carolina Department of Social Services. Provider Portal – South Carolina
4
South Carolina Department of Social Services. Child Abuse/Neglect Registry Checks
5
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-7-1920 – Department to Maintain Central Registry
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-7 – Child Protection and Permanency