1000 pages!

Year after year, a great volunteer group from CIGNA comes together to make Life book pages for children and youth in foster care.  These caring and talented volunteers outdo themselves each year!  This year they put together over 1000 pages in one day!  That’s right, 1000 pages! 

Foster Care Celebrates Successful Graduates

This spring has been an exciting time for the LSS Treatment Foster Care Program as four (4) foster care youth will be graduating from High School.  To add to the excitement, all four youth plan to further education or have already enlisted in the military!

An Especially Merry Christmas!

Thanks to a generous donation from Christy Westermann and her team at Howalt McDowell Insurance, children and youth in LSS’ Sioux Falls area Treatment Foster Care homes had an especially merry Christmas!  Christy and her team made a decision to make Christmas a little brighter for youth and families in the Sioux Falls area.  They not only made a donation, they also had a great time shopping for the gifts!

Our Treatment Foster Care team had a great time wrapping and delivering the gifts!

Through this donation, our LSS Treatment Foster Care families were blessed to be able to provide a wonderful Christmas experience for the children and youth living in their homes.  At a time of year where being away from family can be especially difficult for children living in foster care, this support in bringing them some extra joy is especially meaningful.  Thank you, Christy and your team Howalt McDowell Insurance!

LSS provides temporary care for children with medical, developmental, behavioral, and emotional challenges through our Treatment and Specialized Foster Care Services. If you would like more information about LSS Foster Care Services or are interested in becoming a foster parent, please contact Jill Jensen in Sioux Falls at 605-221-2419 or Jill.Jensen@LssSD.org or Mark Kiepke in Rapid City at 605-791-6730 or Mark.Kiepke@LssSD.org.

Thankful for Working Together

Each year in November, the South Dakota Department of Social Services (DSS) in Rapid City teams up with partnering agencies to host a Cultural Feast for the area’s foster care and kinship families.  LSS joins in the merriment and is a part of a committee responsible for working with area businesses and organizations to plan the food and activities for the families. 

Sweet Cases

In the month of September the Rapid City Foster Care Program and Foster Care youth received 15 “Sweet Cases” from Dr. Linda Fromm and her staff at Fromm Dermatology.  In the last two years the staff at Fromm Dermatology have purchased and donated “Sweet Cases” to the foster care youth in LSS Foster Homes in the Rapid City area.  “Sweet Cases” are duffle bags for youth in foster care. These duffle bags are something the foster youth can call their own and use for sleep overs, school trips, and moves home.  The majority of the youth in foster care come from homes or facilities that are unable to purchase duffle bags or suitcases so when youth move into a foster home they may bring all their belongings in garbage bags.  The “Sweet Cases” give the foster youth something they can call their own and assist them in the transitions in life. 

In Memory of Jessica

I recently received a contact that one of the foster children I worked with years ago, Jessica, had passed away.  It took me off guard at the moment. I had worked with this young lady many, many years ago, but my memories of her are just like they happened yesterday.  I spent that afternoon trying to contact her former caregivers and feeling downright sad and sentimental. Over the years I enjoyed every foster child and youth I had the opportunity to work with – they all had their unique personalities and there was something good in each of them. I felt the same way about Jessica but there was a spark in her that made her a little extra special. She taught me so much in the few years I had the pleasure to be her social worker!

Foster Care Appreciation

In the month of the June the Sioux Falls and Rapid City Foster Care Programs each spent an afternoon showing their appreciation for current and past foster parents and foster care youth.