S.C. Code Ann. § 20-7-768 – Standards for termination of parental rights; exceptions

(A) When a child is in the custody of the department, the department shall file a petition to terminate parental rights or shall join as party in a termination petition filed by another party if:
1. (1) a child has been in foster care under the responsibility of the State for fifteen of the most recent twenty-two months;
2. (2) a court of competent jurisdiction has determined the child to be an abandoned infant;
3. (3) a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that the parent has committed murder of another child of the parent or has committed voluntary manslaughter or another child of the parent;
4. (4) a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that the parent has aided, abetted, conspired, or solicited to commit murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent; or
5. (5) a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that the parent has committed a felony assault that has resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent.
(B) Concurrently with filing of the petition, the department shall seek to identify, recruit, process, and approve a qualified family for adoption of the child if an adoptive family has not yet been selected and approved.
(C) This section does not apply:
1. (1) to a child for whom the family court has found that initiation of termination of parental rights is not in the best interests of the child, after applying the criteria of Section 20-7-766(C), (D), (F), or (G) and entering the findings required to select a permanent plan for the child from Section 20-7-766(C), (D), (F), or (G). For this exemption to apply, the court must find that there are compelling reasons for selection of a permanent plan other than termination of parental rights;
2. (2) if the family court finds that the department has not afforded services to the parents provided for in the treatment plan approved pursuant to Section 20-7-764 in a manner that was consistent with the time periods in the plan or that court hearings have been delayed in such a way as to interfere with the initiation, delivery, or completion of services, but only if:
  1. (a) the parent did not delay the court proceedings without cause or delay or refuse the services;
  2. (b) successful completion of the services in question may allow the child to be returned as provided for in Section 20-7-766(F) within the extension period; and
  3. (c) the case is not one for which the court has made a determination that reasonable efforts to preserve or reunify the family are not necessary pursuant to Section 20-7-763.