Foster Parenting

Kinship Appreciation and Awareness Month

Foster Parent Appreciation and Awareness Month

Strong families are South Dakota’s foundation and our future. They serve as the primary source of love, identity, self-esteem and support in communities throughout the state and the country.

Foster parents make a difference in the lives of children and their birth families. Foster families are relatives or non-relatives who are trained and licensed, providing 24-hour care and supervision for children who have been abused and/or neglected.

Foster parenting promotes the healing process by offering a safe and stable environment until a child can return home or establish an alternative lifelong relationship with a caring adult, through guardianship, adoption, or another permanent situation.

Foster families receive 30 hours of training and participate in home consultations resulting in the completion of a home study. The training curriculums used are Foster and Adoptive Parent Training and Extending Our Families through Unity.

Foster families open their homes and hearts and give hope to children of South Dakota whose families are in crisis. They also play a vital role in:

• Helping children and families heal
• Reconnecting children with their families
• Transitioning children into successful adulthood

Children and youth across the state need dedicated foster families to help them and their birth families, so share your heart and open your home to change the life of a child.

Commit to know more about becoming a foster parent, visit StrongerFamiliesTogether.sd.gov!