Children’s Trust announced the following policy priorities for the 2025 legislative session.
CEO Sue Williams said the legislative agenda is essential to advancing policies that protect children, strengthen families, and ensure safer communities. “By advocating for specific policy and legislative items, we encourage our lawmakers to focus on these issues that can have lasting impact in the fight against child abuse and neglect.”
Stop child abuse and neglect before it occurs.
Preventing child abuse reduces the long-term financial burden on taxpayers by minimizing costly interventions like foster care, medical treatments, and welfare, ultimately promoting stronger, more stable families and communities.
Fact: 13,397 children were in substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in state fiscal year 2024
Solution: Allocate funds to Children’s Trust of South Carolina to expand evidence-based prevention programs that provide family support services, parenting education and home visitation.
Provide School Meals to All Children
No child in South Carolina should go hungry, yet many still do, with almost 200,000 experiencing food insecurity. Chronically hungry children are more likely to be disruptive in class and have lasting health complications.
Fact: 28% of children in South Carolina live in households where children are not eating enough because food is unaffordable
Solution: Pass legislation to provide healthy and nutritious breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students in South Carolina public schools, eliminating the stigma and administrative burden associated with free and reduced-price meal programs.
Address Child Care Challenges
Child care in South Carolina remains among the top 10 barriers to workforce entry. Workers without stable child care are also more likely to have unplanned absences, get to work late or leave early.
Fact: More than 15% of unemployed women can’t work because of a lack of child care.
Solution: Expand access to affordable, high-quality child care to ensure that parents can fully participate in the workforce.
If you are interested in following the progress of these priorities and using your voice to support children and families, please register for our Policy Post newsletter.
