About 8,000 children in South Dakota are in kinship care, an arrangement in which they are living with relatives but not their parents. Hundreds more are in traditional foster care or group homes.
Research and experience show that children are healthier—physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually—when they can remain with relatives whenever possible. Kinship care helps preserve cultural identity, maintain school and community connections, and reduce the trauma of separation. The State of South Dakota has set a goal to significantly increase the number of children in state custody who are placed with family members, and LSS of South Dakota is a key partner in helping make that possible.
Families whose children enter foster care are often facing one of the most difficult moments of their lives. Illness, mental health challenges or other crises may temporarily prevent them from caring for their children. These moments do not define parents—or their love for their kids.
“Needing help doesn’t make someone a bad parent,” says Amy Witt, Chief Program Officer at LSS. “Parenting is difficult even under ideal circumstances, and many families simply need support. Our role is to come alongside families and build them up with the skills and resources they need to be stronger. The goal in foster care and kinship is always to bring families back together.”
LSS provides a full spectrum of family support services, including pregnancy counseling, adoption facilitation, post-adoption support, foster care and kinship licensing, and more. Each service is designed with one goal in mind: keeping children safe while strengthening family relationships. This effort is foundational to our vision of a South Dakota where all are healthy, safe and accepted.
“Kinship care is always best for a child if that child isn’t safe in their own home,” Witt says. “When a child is removed from their home, our kinship locators seek to answer questions like, ‘Who already loves this child? Who can provide safety and stability while keeping family connections intact?’ in an effort to locate family members who can care for the child.”
LSS has been involved in foster care work since 1996 and over time added kinship home studies, location and navigation. In September 2025, LSS entered into a new contract with the State of South Dakota to provide enhanced kinship and foster care licensing services statewide.
Federal changes in kinship licensing guidelines have made it easier for families to become licensed and receive reimbursement from the State, similar to the process for traditional foster care families. Assessment, home studies and licensing recommendations for both kinship and foster care are now combined into a single contract. This integration reduces barriers for kinship families and makes it easier for relatives to step forward and care for children. LSS works with the family to complete the home study and makes licensing recommendations.
Home studies to license foster care and kinship families are far more than a checklist; they assess a family’s ability to provide for the safety, care and well-being of a child. In addition to comprehensive background checks and home safety assessments— including documenting essential safety requirements such as smoke detectors, car seats and appropriate sleeping arrangements—home studies include in-depth conversations to evaluate a family’s capacity to:
- Care for a child who may have experienced trauma
- Protect and advocate for a child in their home
- Work collaboratively with the State, schools, service providers and birth families
A typical home study for a prospective foster family takes approximately three to four months to complete. In fiscal year 2025, LSS completed 586 kinship and foster care home studies.
The new contract creates more consistent processes for kinship and foster care families and adds a layer of support for the social workers completing the home assessments and offering licensing recommendations. Five new positions were created to enhance services and offer expedited problem-solving for families and staff members.
LSS supports kinship families through location services, home studies and licensing recommendations. Navigation services help relatives access resources, financial assistance and community support—even when they are not formally involved with the child welfare system.
“This work is not about keeping children away from their families. We do this work because it supports families. It’s creating the right home for that young person that will help them be healthy, safe and accepted until they can get back to their family, relatives or their permanent space,” Witt says. “It’s about giving families the support they need so they can come back together, stronger than before.”
HISTORY OF LSS FOSTER CARE AND KINSHIP SERVICES
1996 First contract to license treatment foster care families (for children with higher-level medical, developmental or behavioral needs)
2013 Expansion into kinship home studies
2015 Introduction of kinship location services in eastern South Dakota
2020 Incorporation of training and licensing for traditional/basic foster care
2023 Addition of kinship navigator support to connect families to statewide resources
2025 Integration of foster care and kinship licensing
Foster care and kinship licensing, location and navigation, as well as post-adoption support services, are made possible through funding from:
