Horry County, SC Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

C. Code § 63-13-20(13) defines a "family childcare home" as a facility within a residence occupied by the operator in which childcare is regularly provided for no more than six children, unattended by a parent or legal guardian, counting both children living in the home and unrelated children taken in for care. A home caring only for related children, or only for one unrelated family's children, falls outside the definition and outside this registration requirement entirely. Section 63-13-810 requires the operator to register with the Department of Social Services, and Section 63-13-820 spells out the process: signing a statement that the operator has read the department's suggested standards, obtaining a signed acknowledgment from each enrolled child's parent, and undergoing SLED and FBI fingerprint-based background checks, a Central Registry abuse-and-neglect check, and a sex-offender registry search for the operator and for anyone age 15 or older living in the home.

Those background checks repeat every five years. Section 63-13-830 makes the resulting statement of registration expire one year after issuance and requires it to be posted in the home and stated on all advertising; renewal requires re-checking anyone who hasn't previously been checked. Section 63-13-825 separately requires the operator and any caregiver to complete ten hours of department-approved training every year, and the department posts each home's compliance status online. The department can deny or withdraw a registration if a child's health or safety is at risk, if enrollment exceeds the six-child cap, or if the operator misses the training requirement.