Build your South Carolina policy manual

Where is your agency today?

The rewritten R.60-122 applies to every provider from May 22, 2026, with no transition period in the text. Choose "Already licensed" if your agency held its DPH license before that date: policy 1.1 then ends with a checklist of what changed on May 22, 2026 and a plan for bringing your current clients' and staff paperwork up to the new rule, and the other policies say what changed for them. Enter your DPH license number in the same step.

What is your business?

This decides who signs the application: the owner or owners, two officers of a corporation, or (DPH's form says) the head of an LLC. Those signers need a SLED check and a drug test, and stay in the random drug testing pool (R.60-122 §103.F-H, §402.C).

Where is your primary office?

The primary office must be in a commercially zoned or unzoned area (R.60-122 §103.D.1). A home in a residential zone does not qualify, by our reading. The manual records the evidence you hold, or the steps still to take.

Will you operate from more than one office?

Each additional location is registered with DPH and approved before you operate from it (R.60-122 §103.D.2-4).

Does your business offer anything besides in-home care?

Other services are kept as a separate line of business, with separate marketing, caregiver records and client records (R.60-122 §103.C.6).

Who will pay for your clients' care?

Medicaid clients need no service agreement under R.60-122 §601.B.2. Medicaid personal care also needs an SCDHHS contract with its own rules, including RN or LPN supervision, which this manual does not cover.

Who will you serve?

Children bring Child Protective Services reporting (R.60-122 §501.D; S.C. Code 63-7-310).

Will you serve clients who live in a nursing home or community residential care facility?

Suspected abuse of a resident of a facility is reported to the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program instead of Adult Protective Services (S.C. Code 43-35-25(D)).

Will caregivers help clients in and out of bed, chairs or vehicles?

If they do, they are trained in proper lifting and transfer techniques before client contact and every year (R.60-122 §404.F, §700.B.4).

Will caregivers give medication reminders?

The rule's care services list includes medication reminders (R.60-122 §700.B.13) and limits caregivers to non-medical tasks. The manual never has caregivers give medication or fill pill organizers.

Will caregivers shop or run errands for clients?

Receipts go to the client and the client's money is accounted for in writing (R.60-122 §700.B.8).

Will caregivers drive clients?

Drivers need a valid license and proof of insurance, and you keep a copy of each one's official driving record (R.60-122 §405.D).

Will you serve clients with dementia or other conditions that need specific care?

Depending on your clients, training covers care specific to their physical or mental condition, for example Alzheimer's disease or other dementias (R.60-122 §404.B).

How often will you review your policies?

The provider sets a review period of no more than two years for all policies, and the administrator documents and signs each review (R.60-122 §301.B).

How will your caregivers work for you?

The rule's caregiver duties cover anyone employed, contracted or referred by the provider (R.60-122 §102.D). A staffing agency must run a criminal record check on each worker it supplies (S.C. Code 44-7-2910(A)(2)).

How will you run criminal record checks?

Checks are run by SLED or by a private company that uses current SLED or FBI records (S.C. Code 44-7-2920). Applicants without 12 months of verified South Carolina residency also need a federal fingerprint check through DPH.

How will you run drug tests?

Any method needs at least a 5-panel urine, hair, saliva or blood screen. In-house kits need five documented items for every test, including the kit's lot number and expiration date (R.60-122 §402.B-C).

Who receives and reviews drug test results and health self-assessments?

The rule also allows a nurse, but the license needs no nurse, so the manual names the administrator or your hiring lead (R.60-122 §402.B, §406.A).

Who trains your caregivers?

Eight topics before client contact and at least annually (R.60-122 §404.A-H).

How will you keep client and staff records?

Records may be paper or electronic; electronic systems need backup and retrieval for a shutdown or power outage (R.60-122 §601.A.1, A.3).

Include recommended practices?

Some policies end with steps that go beyond R.60-122, such as a complaints procedure that names DPH's complaint line, caregiver supervision visits and a yearly TB symptom question, each labelled as not required by the rule. Once adopted they are your policies and DPH can expect you to follow them, so leave them out if you won't.