What Are the Requirements to Be a Daycare Teacher in South Carolina?

South Carolina child care licensing is run by the Division of Early Care and Education at the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS), which regulates child care providers through four regional offices.

A child care center is a facility licensed for 13 or more children.

The center rules are S.C. Code of Regulations Chapter 114, Article 5, covering Regulation 114-500 to 114-509 and last amended effective June 22, 2018.

Classroom staff qualifications sit in that same rulebook; the background-check requirements below also rest on South Carolina law.

South Carolina writes one set of classroom minimums under a single title: teacher/caregiver, any person whose duties include direct care, supervision and guidance of children.

A teacher/caregiver must be at least 18 and able to read and write, and teachers hired after June 30, 1994 need at least a high school diploma or GED plus 6 months' experience as a teacher/caregiver in a licensed or approved child care facility.

The rules do not require a CDA or college credits.

Two alternatives soften the entry path: a new teacher without the 6 months of experience works under the direct supervision of a colleague with at least 1 year of experience for 6 months and completes 6 clock hours of training in child growth and development and early childhood education within 6 months of hire, and a teacher with an undergraduate degree in early childhood, child development, elementary education or a related field may begin working with the children immediately without additional supervision as long as they have 60 days of field experience with children aged 0-8.

The center rules set no separate assistant teacher qualification tier.

Everyone whose duties include direct care, supervision and guidance of children is a teacher/caregiver under Regulation 114-503.K(4), so a posting for an assistant teacher carries the same minimums as any classroom teacher: at least 18, able to read and write, and the diploma, experience or supervised-entry path described above.

Where a center splits its rooms into lead and assistant roles, that structure is the employer's, not the licensing rule's.

The director provides orientation for all new staff, volunteers and emergency persons before their employment begins, covering job duties, the regulations that apply to the position, and the center's health and safety policies.

For teachers who entered without 6 months of experience, 6 clock hours of training in child growth and development and early childhood education are due within 6 months of hire.

Separately from licensing, SC Endeavors lists a free 15-hour Health and Safety Pre-Service Certificate that is required, completed once, for ABC Quality and SC Voucher administrators and teachers — a program condition, not a center licensing rule.

Center staff providing direct care need at least 15 clock hours of training every year, drawn from at least three topic areas, and the training must include OSHA blood-borne pathogens.

CPR and first aid training do not count toward the 15 hours.

Up to 5 extra hours carry over.

At least one person certified in pediatric first aid and CPR must be present in the center at all times children are in care, and on field trips.

The rules recommend a CPR-certified teacher in each infant and toddler room, but do not require one.

Staff also need a health assessment — a history, physical, vision and hearing check, and an immunization review that includes a discussion of a one-time adult Tdap — completed within 3 months before or 1 month after hire and renewed at least every 4 years, plus written evidence that they are free of communicable TB.

South Carolina law requires child care staff to complete a SLED state fingerprint check, an FBI fingerprint check, a DSS Central Registry check for child abuse and neglect, and sex offender checks, plus registry checks in every state where the person has lived during the previous 5 years.

Under the center rules, a new hire may work provisionally after a favorable SLED state fingerprint result, the FBI fingerprints must be submitted within 14 business days of receiving the SLED results, and the checks are redone after a break in service of a year or more.

The state runs child care background checks through a digital fingerprint service operated by IBT.

The center rules allow a teacher/caregiver to be 17 in one situation only: they hold a GED or high school diploma and are continuously supervised by a qualified caregiver in the room.

From 18, the age minimum is met outright, and the teacher/caregiver requirements described above apply as they would for any hire.

SC Endeavors runs South Carolina's early childhood workforce registry.

A registry account carries a State Registry ID and access to the DSS official training transcript, and SC Endeavors publishes the training calendar.

The registry is where a member's learning record and training transcript live; the requirements themselves come from the licensing rules covered above.