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South Carolina Domestic Violence Coordination Framework

DV coordination, partnership readiness, and inter-agency collaboration guidelines for South Carolina.

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REGIONAL COORDINATION

South Carolina Interagency Coordination Overview

Statewide Coordination Context

South Carolina’s domestic violence response landscape includes statewide coalitions, local shelters, legal aid providers, law enforcement agencies, healthcare systems, child and family services, and community-based organizations. This page provides a coordination-oriented overview to support alignment across regions and counties within the state.

The focus is on establishing predictable structures for information-sharing, referral processes, joint planning, and funding collaboration, rather than on direct service delivery guidance.

Regional Coordination Framework in South Carolina

Organizations in South Carolina often align their collaboration around existing regional structures such as judicial circuits, public health regions, and metropolitan service areas. The following framework can be adapted to fit existing local arrangements.

Core Functions of Regional Coordination

Maintaining an up-to-date inventory of domestic violence–related services, eligibility criteria, and access points across the region.
Facilitating cross-agency case coordination protocols (without sharing personally identifying information unless proper agreements are in place).
Convening regular interagency meetings to review system gaps, emerging patterns, and operational challenges.
Aligning regional priorities with statewide initiatives, funding opportunities, and legislative or policy changes.
Supporting smaller or rural counties with templates, training pathways, and technical assistance.

Suggested Regional Coordination Structures

Partners may consider the following models when organizing domestic violence–related work at a regional level in South Carolina:

Judicial Circuit–Aligned Working Groups
Organizations collaborate within the boundaries of prosecutorial or judicial circuits to coordinate justice system engagement, legal advocacy, and related community supports.
Public Health or Hospital Catchment Areas
Coordination around hospitals and health systems’ catchment areas to streamline screening, referrals, and data exchange pathways between healthcare, social services, and advocacy organizations.
Metropolitan and Micropolitan Hubs
Regional hubs anchored in larger cities (e.g., Columbia-area, Charleston-area, Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson) that provide shared infrastructure, training, and referral pathways for surrounding counties.
Rural Collaboration Clusters
Multi-county clusters in predominantly rural areas sharing outreach, mobile advocacy, transportation solutions, and shared back-office or administrative supports.

Regional coordination bodies can function as conveners, not controllers of services. Their role is to document, align, and improve interagency processes while respecting each organization’s governance and funding requirements.

County-Level Networks

County-level networks in South Carolina provide the most direct interface between local agencies and the residents they serve. These networks typically include shelters, advocacy programs, law enforcement, probation, courts, child and family-serving agencies, healthcare partners, schools, faith-based organizations, and community-based groups.

Common Roles Within County Networks

Lead Coordinating Organization
An agency or coalition that manages meeting logistics, shared documentation, and communications. This role may rotate or be designated through an MOU.
Law Enforcement and Justice Partners
Local police, sheriff’s offices, prosecutors, probation/parole, and court representatives participating in protocol development, communication channels, and data-informed reviews.
Social Service and Advocacy Partners
Domestic violence programs, legal aid, housing and homelessness providers, child- and family-serving agencies, disability service agencies, and culturally specific organizations.
Health and Behavioral Health Partners
Hospitals, clinics, primary care, behavioral health providers, and substance use service providers collaborating on identification, warm referrals, and follow-up processes.
Community and Systems Connectors
Representatives from schools, higher education, workforce development, and community-based groups that can support early identification and coordinated referrals.

Operational Priorities for County Networks

Referral Pathways
Create clear, documented referral options for different presenting needs (housing, legal, health, economic stability, child-related concerns), including after-hours and rural access considerations.
Eligibility and Capacity Transparency
Maintain shared summaries of basic eligibility parameters, service capacity, and intake processes to reduce misdirected referrals and delays.
Protocol Alignment
Develop cross-agency protocols on information exchange, warm handoffs, law enforcement notifications, and collaboration with courts and probation where appropriate.
Problem-Solving Forums
Use regular meetings to address operational challenges such as transportation barriers, interpreter needs, or coordination with other systems (e.g., child welfare, housing authorities).
Data and Pattern Review
Without sharing individual-level details unless proper agreements exist, review aggregate information from partners to identify trends, gaps, and resource needs at the county level.

County Network Governance and Agreements

To provide structure and continuity, county-level networks can use formal or semi-formal agreements that describe roles and expectations. These can be brief and periodically updated.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Outlines participation expectations, meeting cadence, decision-making approaches, and shared objectives for the county network.
Data-Sharing Addenda
Supplemental agreements for any context in which agencies exchange de-identified or limited client-level information, consistent with applicable law and each agency’s policies.
Conflict and Escalation Procedures
Agreed steps for addressing interagency conflicts, service overlap, or referral breakdowns.
Leadership and Succession Plans
Designated leads, co-chairs, and backup contacts to maintain continuity during staff turnover.

Many partners use simple, annually renewed MOUs for county networks, focusing on shared goals, coordination processes, and communication expectations, rather than enforceable obligations.

Onboarding Steps for New Partners

New organizations joining South Carolina domestic violence–related networks can follow a structured onboarding process. The aim is to clarify roles, align expectations, and integrate new partners into established coordination mechanisms.

Step 1: Mapping to the Appropriate Regional and County Structures

Identify which regional collaborative (e.g., judicial circuit, public health region, metropolitan hub) is most relevant to the organization’s primary service area.
Determine the home county or counties served, noting any cross-county or statewide service scope.
Request existing coordination charts, member lists, or contact directories from any known coalition or lead coordinating agency.

Step 2: Orientation to Existing Networks

Attend at least one regional-level and one county-level meeting as an observer to understand structure, activities, and decision-making patterns.
Review any existing MOUs, bylaws, or participation guidelines for networks in the service area.
Obtain and review standard referral forms, contact lists, and communication protocols used by existing partners.

Step 3: Clarify Organizational Role and Service Profile

Prepare a concise overview of the organization’s mission, service scope, target populations, and geographic coverage in South Carolina.
Develop a one-page description of eligibility criteria, referral preferences, hours of operation, and primary contacts.
Identify unique capacities (e.g., language access, cultural expertise, specialized legal or housing services, rural mobility) that can complement existing resources.

Step 4: Establish Participation and Communication Channels

Designate at least one primary and one backup representative for regional and county-level meetings.
Determine which working groups, task forces, or committees are most relevant to the organization.
Integrate key network contacts into internal communication tools (e.g., contact directories, distribution lists).

Step 5: Confirm Documentation and Agreements

Sign or update any required network MOUs or participation agreements.
Where applicable, execute or review data-sharing or confidentiality agreements that support limited information exchange.
Align organizational policies on referrals, record-keeping, and communication with network protocols wherever operationally feasible.

Step 6: Integrate Into Daily Operations

Embed network referral pathways into intake, screening, and case coordination workflows.
Provide staff with contact lists, referral instructions, and any shared forms endorsed by the county or regional network.
Schedule periodic internal reviews to ensure participation in regional and county-level activities remains consistent and aligned with organizational capacity.

Many South Carolina networks find it useful to assign a “network liaison” within each organization to maintain continuity of attendance, communication, and documentation, especially through staffing transitions.

Alignment With Broader Ecosystems

Regional and county networks in South Carolina operate within a larger national and multi-state ecosystem of domestic violence coordination resources, research, and technical assistance. Additional coordination tools, templates, and frameworks may be available through the broader ecosystem hosted at DV.Support, which partners can review and adapt to local conditions.