LATEST NEWS: March 2022 - The next Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 4, at 9:00am in the Blatt Building, Room 410, on the Statehouse grounds. The meeting will be livestreamed on the Statehouse website.
We are excited to release our 2022 Annual Report! This report covers three overarching themes: youth mental health, child well-being, and juvenile justice reform and includes discussion of coordinating and expanding access to children’s mental health services, providing youth and caregivers better access to birth certificates, providing counsel for children in child welfare proceedings, and adopting the Juvenile Justice Reform Act, among other topics.
Act No. 123, JCLCC Reauthorization Bill, was signed by the Governor on March 14th. With this Act, we are excited to welcome four new ex officio agencies to our Committee: Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, Department of Health and Environmental Control, Department of Health and Human Services, and SC First Steps.
Committee on Children
We believe how we treat children is the most accurate indicator of our state's future.
About the Committee
The Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children is a consortium of appointed citizens, legislators, and agency directors charged with the critical responsibility of identifying and studying key issues facing South Carolina's children, then promoting sound strategies for the development of children's policy. The Committee makes recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly to use in consideration of policy, funding, and legislation to benefit our children's future.
Meet the members who serve on the Committee on Children below.
Appointed by the President of the Senate
The Honorable Brad Hutto
State Senator
District 40 - Orangeburg
Serving on the Committee since 2010
The Honorable Darrell Jackson
State Senator
District 21 - Columbia
Serving on the Committee since 2010
The Honorable Katrina Shealy
State Senator
District 23 - Lexington
Serving on the Committee since 2017
Appointed by the Governor
Mr. W. Derek Lewis,
Greenville
Serving on the Committee since 2012
Dr. Kay Phillips, Ph.D., LISW,
Summerville
Serving on the Committee since 2017
Mrs. Bronwyn McElveen,
Sumter
Serving on the Committee since 2022
Appointed by the Speaker of the House
The Honorable Beth Bernstein
State Representative
District 78 - Columbia
Serving on the Committee since 2017
The Honorable Neal Collins
State Representative
District 5 - Easley
Serving on the Committee since 2015
The Honorable Raye Felder
State Representative
District 26 - York
Serving on the Committee since 2022
Ex Officio
Michael Leach, Director
Department of Social Services
L. Eden Hendrick, Director - Department of Juvenile Justice
Kenneth Rogers, MD, Director - Department of Mental Health
Molly M. Spearman, State Superintendent of Education
Michelle Gough Fry, J.D, PH.D, LL.M, Director
Department of Disabilities and Special Needs
Sara Goldsby, Director -
Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
Edward Simmer, M.D.,
Director - Department
of Health and Environmental Control
Robert Kerr, Director -
Department of Health and Human Services
