The growth of amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide thin films with short-range order structure similar to crystalline silicon carbide is reported. The films were grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition at "silane starving plasma" regime. The radio frequency (rf) power and the hydrogen dilution of the gaseous mixture were controlled in order to improve the chemical and structural order in the solid phase. The composition was determined by Rutherford back scattering and forward recoil spectrometry. The chemical bonds were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The structural properties were investigated by X-ray absorption near edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopies at the Si K edge. The results showed that the material with the desirable properties is obtained at higher rf power, provided the "silane starving plasma" regime is maintained, at higher hydrogen dilution and, with a carbon content, x, close to 0.5.