COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Legislative Audit Council released its second audit on the South Carolina's Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN). Among the findings is an ongoing concern that the department does not have a system that would prevent employees fired for abuse from being rehired.
“Well, I’m not surprised by any of the findings,” Able SC CEO Kimberly Tissot said. Able South Carolina is an advocacy group aimed at making changes for people living with disabilities in South Carolina.
This is the council’s second report this year for the SC Department of Disabilities and Special Needs.
“Unfortunately, we see a lot of the findings in the community with people who we are working with individuals with significant disabilities,” Tissot said.
According to the report, the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs did not have an adequate system to ensure that employee caregivers dismissed for abuse, neglect, or exploitation are not rehired elsewhere in the system. This isn’t a new concern. The audit council has flagged this as an issue before in previous audits.
The audit found several cases where employees who were fired for abuse were rehired. In some case, the paperwork showed the reason for the release was listed as “personal” instead of “terminated.”
“Not doing a background check for staff members that are caring for people with disabilities, it's just extremely irresponsible," Tissot said. "Most organizations and other agencies do it, so I’m not sure why there isn’t a true system in place.”
The South Carolina Bar’s Vulnerable Adult Task Force worked to address this issue with new legislation introduced during the 2021-22 session.
The bill included safeguards to ensure that someone terminated for abuse be placed on a registry. The bill also proposed that the Department of Mental Health, DDSN, and DHEC use this registry in their hiring practices. It never passed.
According to the audit, the department responded to the use of a registry with this statement:
“The agency would probably not be opposed to housing such a registry; However, the adult protective services division of DSS would need, at a minimum, more funding to hire appropriate staff.”
The Legislative Audit Council indicated a solution to this problem is requiring any agency hiring caregivers for vulnerable adults to check the adult abuse registry once one is created. They also called on lawmakers to finish their work and create an abuse registry.
The Department of Disabilities and Special Needs said there are several opportunities for improvement within the agency and they will work with lawmakers to make changes.