State requirements
South Carolina in-service training requirements for home care agencies
South Carolina licenses every agency-model non-medical home care business as an In-Home Care Provider, but the licensing rules set training topics with no hour count — no orientation hours, no annual hours, no stated cadence. The state's only numeric training-hour rule sits on the Medicaid side.
For each program type below: the license and survey status, the training requirement, and the citation — from the rule text and official program manuals, not vendor marketing.
Private pay
Recommended target10 hours a year — recommended defensibility target, not a state hour mandate
Licensed and surveyed. South Carolina has no lawful unlicensed private-pay agency tier — if you employ caregivers, contract with them, or refer them for pay when you have a financial interest, you need the license. It carries eight required training topics and no training hours.
South Carolina licenses your agency as an In-Home Care Provider, but the licensing rules set training topics with no hour count — no orientation hours, no annual hours, no stated cadence (S.C. Code Regs. 61-122 §300.D). Eight topics are required, including first aid, abuse and neglect prevention, infection control, and lifting and transfers. This recommended 10-hour annual target mirrors South Carolina's Medicaid personal care standard — a defensible bar if your training is ever questioned. South Carolina's rule expressly recognizes computer-based training: it waives the trainer's signature on records for it.
S.C. Code Regs. 61-122 §300.D — topics, no hour count; recommended target mirrors SCDHHS HCBS Scopes of Services §D.1.b.viii
Medicaid in-home services
State requirement10 hours of in-service a year
Licensed and surveyed. Medicaid personal care agencies hold the same In-Home Care Provider license plus enrollment with the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, which is where the state's 10-hour annual in-service rule and its nurse-led competency evaluation come from.
South Carolina Medicaid personal care aides need at least 10 hours of in-service training each calendar year, prorated by month of hire in the first year, supervised by your nurse supervisor (SCDHHS HCBS Provider Manual, Scopes of Services §D.1.b.viii). Two limits shape how you earn those hours: self-study counts for no more than 6 of the 10, and any program not already on SCDHHS's approved list needs SCDHHS approval for content and credit hours at least 45 days before you offer it. South Carolina sets no orientation hour count — instead, before an aide serves any waiver participant, an RN (or an LPN supervised by an RN) must complete a competency training and evaluation covering seven required topics, and that applies to every aide, including CNAs. The orientation figure in your AideReady settings is a recommended baseline, not a state minimum.
SCDHHS HCBS Provider Manual, Scopes of Services §D.1.b.viii (July 1, 2025); competency evaluation at §D.1.b.vii
State-licensed agency
Recommended target10 hours a year — recommended defensibility target, not a state hour mandate
Licensed and surveyed. The In-Home Care Provider license is the single licensure category for agency-model non-medical home care, covering employee, contractor, and financially-interested referral models alike.
Any South Carolina agency that employs, contracts, or refers caregivers for pay needs an In-Home Care Provider license, but that license sets training topics rather than hours — the rules contain no annual or orientation hour count (S.C. Code Regs. 61-122 §300.D). This recommended 10-hour annual target mirrors South Carolina's Medicaid personal care standard. Home health agencies are licensed separately and, if Medicare-certified, follow the federal home health aide rules instead — check your program type.
S.C. Code Regs. 61-122 §300.D (topics, no hour count); recommended target mirrors SCDHHS HCBS Scopes of Services §D.1.b.viii
Other arrangements in South Carolina
Self-directed attendant care
The participant or representative is the employer and supervisor of record, supported by a University of South Carolina Center for Disability Resources nurse. The only mandatory pre-service item is Electronic Visit Verification system and billing training, and there is no hour count. No agency is the trainer of record.
SCDHHS HCBS Scopes of Services — Attendant Care, Self-Directed §C
Caregivers hired directly by a client or family
An individual hired directly by the person receiving care, or by their family, falls outside the In-Home Care Provider definition entirely — and outside every training rule on this page. The exemption covers the individual, not an agency that employs, places, or refers that caregiver for pay.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-70-20(3)(d)
Licensed home health agencies
A separate, older license track, expressly carved out of the in-home care definition. We found no numeric aide in-service hour requirement in that regulation either; Medicare-certified agencies additionally follow the federal home health aide rules, including the federal 12-hour annual in-service.
S.C. Code Regs. 61-77; 42 CFR 484.80(d)
Unlicensed private-pay agency care
Confirmed not to lawfully exist as a real agency segment in South Carolina — none of the statute's exemptions covers a business that employs caregivers, contracts them, or takes financially-interested referrals for compensation. Marketing yourself as an in-home care provider without a license is itself prohibited.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-70-20(3); S.C. Code Regs. 61-122 §103.A
The summaries above are drawn from the rule text and official program manuals cited with them. Your agency remains the training provider of record. AideReady is not a substitute for legal or regulatory advice.
$79/month flat · unlimited caregivers · 14-day free trial, no card required
Also covered: Missouri · Kansas · Texas · Georgia · All states