Happy New Year!

Guest Post from SC Center for Fathers and Families

This is a reprint of an article appearing in the SC Center for Fathers and Families enewsletter.

Civil contempt findings will no longer appear on SLED records 

The South Carolina Attorney General recently issued an opinion that civil contempt findings should not appear on South Carolina Law Enforcement criminal background checks. This opinion will have a favorable impact on non-custodial parents who have been found in civil contempt for failure to pay child support and have had the finding entered into their criminal record. Although civil contempt is not a crime, procedures at SLED did not allow these actions to be excluded from the records. The procedures for expungement only applied to criminal cases.

The Center for Fathers and Families has long advocated for changes in policies and practices that though well-intended created roadblocks for non-custodial parents, mostly fathers, being able to provide for their children. This practice of recording civil findings in a criminal background record was one such unnecessary barrier.

The Center had several concerns.

First, a criminal background is often a barrier to employment and because civil contempt findings appeared on the criminal background checks, employers viewed it as a criminal offense. Gaining and maintaining employment is critical to having the financial means to meet a child support obligation.

Second, only individuals who were found in contempt of non-payment of child support and were fingerprinted had the civil contempt entered into their criminal record.

Finally, the practice of fingerprinting individuals found in contempt and forwarding those records to SLED was inconsistently applied across the state. Because SC Legal Services shared these concerns, The Center and SC Legal Services partnered to address this growing problem.

A non-custodial parent, and in this case a mother, requested SC Legal Services’ assistance to have her more recent civil contempt for failure to pay child support removed from her SLED criminal record. Her criminal record included some criminal offenses, but these were very old and ironically were not hindering her employment chances as much as the recent incarceration for failure to pay child support. This case highlighted the problem of civil contempt on criminal records and its impact on individuals’ employment opportunities.

SC Legal Services submitted a written request to SLED for the removal of the civil contempt and the request was denied. SLED procedures were to record any offense that was a “fingerprintable” action and the expungement process could not be used because it was a civil, not  a criminal, action. However, because this case demonstrated the problem of civil contempt in individuals’ criminal records and the lack of internal procedures at SLED to address removal of civil contempt findings, SC Legal Services Lead Employment Attorney Jack Cohoon filed an Administrative Appeal to SLED’s Criminal History Administrative Appeal Board. SLED then requested an opinion from the Attorney General’s office concerning entering findings of civil contempt  into SLED criminal records.

The Attorney General’s opinion was issued on October 8, 2012. This opinion concluded that criminal records are maintained for criminal justice purposes. Since reporting civil contempt findings does not advance or relate to the enforcement of the criminal laws of South Carolina, these civil contempt findings are not criminal history and should not be entered into the State’s Criminal Information and Communication System nor in the federal NCIC ( National Crime Information Center) systems.

Because of this opinion, SLED will no longer enter civil contempt orders into the NCIC and state systems.

The Center is grateful to the partnership and support of SC Legal Services and for the favorable and fair opinion by the Attorney General.

The full opinion may be found  here.

Legal Services Corporation will be in Durham, North Carolina

On Monday, October 1, 2012, the Legal Services Corporation will be hosting a Forum on Civil Legal Aid at Duke University. This is an exciting event for the Carolinas, and the Southeast.

After the Forum, five North Carolina attorneys will be awarded for their Pro Bono service.

Click here to view the press release.

New Resource for SC Seniors and Caregivers

The South Carolina Bar Public Services Division and the Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging recently collaborated together with members of the South Carolina Bar Elder Law Committee to update the SOUTH CAROLINA SENIOR CITIZENS’ HANDBOOK: A Guide to Laws and Programs Affecting Senior Citizens. This project was funded by a grant from the Administration on Aging.

This is a FREE resource and is now available online at http://www.scbar.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=QL4xW3AqA8Q%3d&tabid=204.

The print versions should start arriving in local South Carolina libraries soon.

This is a great resource for SC Seniors and/or their caregivers; it covers topics related to:

• Health Care Financing
• Rights and Protections
• Protective Services
• Financial Planning and Medical Decision Making
• Financial Assistance
• Aging Services and Aging Organizations

And an entire portion is devoted to a Community Resource Directory.

Even if you’re not yet a Senior or caregiver, you may want to look into some of these sections. The information is really helpful and easily accessible. Plus, it’s never too early to start planning.

~RFW

South Carolina Homeownership and Employment Lending Program – SC HELP

Are YOU a Homeowner who is Facing Foreclosure Due to:

Unemployment,

Underemployment,

Reduction in Self-Employment Income,

Death of Spouse,

Catastrophic Medical Expenses, or

Divorce?

If so, there may be help for you via SC HELP, see SC HELP Flyer.

Monthly Payment Assistance:

• makes monthly payments while you are seeking employment and a return to self-sustainability

Direct Loan Assistance:

• pays up to $20,000 on past due mortgage to bring it current

Property disposition assistance:

• provides $5,000 to help transition families from homeownership to rental housing if:

1. Application with SC HELP completed FIRST
2. Permission for short-sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure granted
3. Money distributed AFTER execution of deeds completed

South Carolina has been awarded, $295,431,000 in funding from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Hardest Hit Funds to prevent mortgage foreclosure.

SC Housing Corp., a non-profit Division of the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority is administering the Program, known in SC as the South Carolina Homeownership and Employment Lending Program or SC HELP.

South Carolina Legal Services (SCLS) is one of the housing processing agencies for SC HELP.  SCLS assists homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure gather and submit the required documents to be approved for mortgage assistance through SC HELP.

The list of documents can be found here - SC HELP Required Documents List

There are no income requirements for SC HELP and all services are free to the homeowner.

SC HELP will not pay any more than $20,000 on the arrearages.

SC HELP may approve payment of the $20,000 but the actual payment will not be made until SC HELP has verification that the homeowner can pay the balance of the arrearages or that it has been forgiven by the lender or it has been placed at the end of the mortgage.

The requirements for the property disposition assistance program should be carefully reviewed.

NOTE: A homeowner is not eligible for this program if the property has already been sold at foreclosure.

Homeowners may call South Carolina Legal Services toll-free at 1-888-257-1988 Or 1-855-HELP-4 SC

Homeowners may also submit an application at www.SCMORTGAGEHELP.com

For more detailed information about SC HELP, please see Information Flyer

For more information about SC Legal Services, please see SCLS General Brochure

~RFW

Eat at Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina, Help Richland County CASA

Just in from Richland County CASA:

Make plans now to eat dinner out this coming Wednesday, July 18, 2012, between 5-9 p.m. at Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina located at 5135 Sunset Blvd. Suite H, Lexington, SC 29072.

10% of all ticket sales will be donated to Richland County CASA in support of abused and neglected children!

 Come On! You have to eat anyway, so make it a night out and support the CASA Children!

Can’t think of a better reason to eat good food and help a cause! See you there.

~RFW

Training Opportunity by SCCADVASA

South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVASA) Training Announcement:  Recognizing and Responding to Human Trafficking within the United States

 July 19, 2012

SC Department of Juvenile Justice

Bill Rogers Community Connections Center

4900 Broad River Road

Columbia, SC 29212

Registration and Additional Information at: http://sccadvasa.org/training

Registration deadline is July 13, 2012

Space is Limited, so please register soon.

For Hotel Reservations Call:

Call Hampton Inn-Harbison 803.749.6999

101 Woodcross Drive

Columbia, SC 29212

Refer to group code: SCC

The deadline to confirm the group rate of $89.00 per night plus applicable taxes and fees is July 4, 2012.

For more information, please call Donna Thompson at 803.256.2900 ext. 106 or email dthompson@sccadvasa.org.

PLEASE SEE BROCHURE FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION

FREE for SCCADVASA Member Program Advocates

$15.00 for SCCADVASA Affiliate Members & Students (Students must provide ID)

$25.00 for General Registration

There will be 6.0 Continuing Education Hours offered for:

• LPC,
• MFTH,
• Law Enforcement,
• Social Work and
• Victim Service Provider.

Two-Day Court Interpreter Certification Orientation Workshop

I am pleased to announce that there will be a Court Interpreter Certification Program, Two-Day Orientation Workshop (Language Neutral) presented by South Carolina Court Administration in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday, June 1, 2012 and Saturday, June 2, 2012.

The sessions will run all day, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on both days.

Where:

Midlands Technical College (MTC)
Northeast Campus Technology Center
151 Powell Rd.
Columbia, South Carolina 29203

When:

Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2, 2012, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Cost:

Registration fee: $250.00

For more info, Invitation to Orientation 06.01.12.

~ RFW

February 2012 Newsletter

We are pleased to share our latest newsletter.

SCATJC February2012

If you have questions, please feel free to email me.

~RFW

Law School for Interpreters: A Success!

Bright and early Saturday morning, 77 people were driving into downtown Columbia to attend the SC Access to Justice Commission’s LEP Work Group “Law School for Interpreters.”

Meanwhile, the sponsors were all busy opening the facility and readying the room and registration tables for each of these interpreters.

At 8:45 a.m., seats filled and the LEP Work Group provided an overview of the day and the program began.

The Agenda:

• Registration and Breakfast 8:00 a.m.
• Welcome & Overview 8:45 a.m.
• Pretest 9:00 a.m.
• “Oh the Places You Can Go and the People You Can Meet” (Overview of the SC Judicial System) 9:15 a.m.
• South Carolina State Court Interpreter Certification Program 9:45 a.m.
• BREAK
• Circuit Court 10:30 a.m.
• Family Court 11:15 a.m.
• Magistrates Court 12:00 noon
• Catered Lunch
• Court Process 1:45 p.m.
• BREAK
• Panel Discussion & Q&A: Reality Check 3:15 p.m.
• Post-test, Wrap-Up, & Evaluation 4:45 p.m.

The excitement in the room was palpable. Interpreters greeted one another with hugs, and sometimes questions of “which language do you speak?” And the excitement was not limited to interpreters and translators. Many of the event sponsors were thrilled with the turn-out, especially on a Saturday. Languages represented included Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, French, and Urdu as well as a few others.

And we’re all excited about the prospect of an additional pool of qualified and certified interpreters and translators in the South Carolina Court System.

Thanks again to our sponsors, speakers, and participants!

~RFW