The Lost Children: This is part of a series of stories by South Dakota Searchlight and the Argus Leader about the overrepresentation of Native American children in the state’s foster care system.
Originally published by South Dakota Searchlight, November 12, 2023, at southdakotasearchlight.com/2023/11/12/foster-families-get-paid-but-not-kinship-relatives-caring-for-native-children/. Reprinted under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Over one-third of all foster kids in the state, 514 children, come from Pennington County. Yet only 103 foster families are licensed in the county, according to August 2023 statistics from South Dakota Kids Belong (americaskidsbelong.org/states/sd/).
Two other regions in the state, which include Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Rosebud, Lower Brule and Crow Creek reservations, have more foster children than they do licensed foster families — even if each household took in two foster children each.
As of Sept. 30, 2023 there were 41 state licensed foster families living in a county that includes reservation boundaries, according to the state DSS. There are 245 state licensed families living in counties immediately adjacent to reservation land.
That means a significant number of children are shipped hundreds of miles across the state — even so far as from Rapid City to Sioux Falls.
The southeast region of the state, which includes Sioux Falls, accounts for 53% of the state’s foster homes.
“Why are we sending so many kids to Sioux Falls instead of advocating in Rapid City? Because there is a need,” Christensen said. “It’s obvious the kids are not being placed in or near their own communities.”
That same lack of support is why Christensen says South Dakota has low foster parent retention rates.
The retention rate for foster families in South Dakota for the last three years hovered around 72% to 75%, according to the state DSS.
It’s more difficult for kinship families, Christensen added, because they are emotionally connected to the child’s parents and don’t have the same resources.
“There’s no support from the system,” she said, adding that it can be difficult for kinship families to find resources or nonprofits without the same help foster parents get from the state.
The state recently created a kinship navigator role and is hiring for the position (dss.sd.gov/docs/rfp/8811/RFP_8811_Kinship_Navigator.pdf), which will help kinship families find resource options.
Difficulties recruiting foster families: Mistrust in the system
Christian Blackbird is the ICWA director for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in central South Dakota. He works with the state to coordinate placements for children who are tribal citizens and ensure ICWA guidelines are followed.
He’s seen a disconnect between efforts at the tribal and state level to find kinship placements.
“I’ve been to a couple of court hearings where the caseworkers would tell us that they exhausted all their efforts finding relatives,” he said. “Then I come to find out that some of the relatives weren’t even being notified, like distant relatives or aunts or uncles, so we ended up having to intervene and send out letters saying we did find relatives of the children.”
Grandparents are often left out of the foster care system and from decisions regarding child placements, said Madonna Thunder Hawk, a Lakota activist and member of the Cheyenne River grandmothers group. Grandparents aren’t usually selected as kinship placements – oftentimes without an explanation from authorities, she said – and state social workers prefer to interact with the child’s parents. For example, foster parents may not normally contact family beyond parents.
Jones, who served as a South Dakota lawyer and tribal judge before working at UND’s Tribal Judicial Institute, said he was usually able to find a family member to care for the child.
“But that didn’t necessarily mean the state would license a family member,” he added.
In South Dakota, foster families must be licensed through the state unless they are located on a reservation. Families living on a reservation can become tribally licensed foster families. But for enrolled tribal members who want to be foster parents and who live off reservation land, they must register with the state to receive placements.
A 2004 state ICWA commission determined allowing tribes to license homes on and off reservations would lower the number of children in foster care (sdtribalrelations.sd.gov/docs/ICWAReport%5B2004%5Dpdf.pdf).
Both tribes and the state are working in the best interest of the children, said Jessica Morson, the South Dakota ICWA Coalition director and ICWA director for the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe.
“We do the same work, we have the same education, but yet you’re still going to question where I’m coming from in regards to keeping this child safe, saying this is a safe family,” she said. “The same background checks are run.”
The federal Native American Children’s Safety Act, which was passed in 2016, imposes “more onerous” requirements on tribes when licensing foster homes in the state, Jones said — meaning the standards should be just as good, if not better, than the state.
Native kinship and foster family recruitment remains one of the “bigger problems” in South Dakota, Jones said. “They can’t find enough homes to place these kids in,” he said.
Some Indigenous families are hesitant to let the state tour their houses, Eagle Star said, afraid the state will see how they live and take their own children — warranted or not. Many households on the Rosebud Reservation have between eight and 13 family members living together, Eagle Star said.
“I can understand from the tribal side why someone wouldn’t want to be a state foster parent,” said Eagle Star, the state-licensed foster parent. “No one wants DSS in your house every month. And it’s a lot of work to have non-Natives come into your home to judge and inspect it. A non-Native person may not understand the Native way of thinking or life. To have them come into your home, your sacred space where you raise your children and feel most comfortable, is hard.”
You can leave this out if you need room – we run it every week
