SC H3612

Amends South Carolina law regarding grounds for termination of parental rights to provide additional protections for incarcerated parents

Requires courts to consider the parent-child relationship before incarceration when evaluating whether an incarcerated parent's failure to visit reflects intent to abandon parental duties

Prohibits courts from finding willful failure to visit if the incarcerated parent lacks the ability to visit or communicate with the child; presumes incarcerated parents cannot visit children in state custody

Requires courts to consider pre-incarceration support history and current ability to pay when determining if an incarcerated parent willfully failed to support a child

Allows courts to count third-party support paid on behalf of incarcerated parents and presumes incarcerated parents may lack ability to support children in department custody