The South Carolina Department of Social Services ("DSS") isn't always right. There are at least 97 separate South Carolina code sections directly related to child protection and permanency. This does not include code sections and regulations governing ancillary matters, such as health related issues.
Consequently, DSS does not always get it right. Rest assured your case is not necessarily hopeless.
Case in point: South Carolina Department of Social Services v. Randy S.,
et al, 390 S.C. 100, 700 S.E.2d...
This is a true story about a custodian of a child involving DSS in a South Carolina case. Confidentiality mandates preclude identifying any of the participants.
A family court judge recently granted a woman’s (referred to herein as “custodian”) motion to intervene and ordered DSS to return a (female) child which had been wrongfully removed by DSS. There are two points in play here. First, the custodian was not the child’s parent and was not named by DSS as a party... 
