How to Become a Foster Parent in South Dakota

As of mid-2025, there are 788 licensed foster homes in South Dakota caring for children who can’t be with their families. More than 70 percent of those children are under twelve. Many are siblings who need to stay together. Many are Native American children who need families that understand their culture and identity. According to South Dakota’s foster and adoptive parent recruitment plan, the state is actively looking for more families, and the need is real.

The licensing process has clear steps: an application, background checks, a home study, and pre-service training, all overseen by the South Dakota Department of Social Services. What follows explains each part of that process so you know what to expect.

Who can be a foster parent in South Dakota?

More people qualify than you might think. South Dakota’s requirements are designed to cast a wide net, because the state needs more families, not fewer. You don’t have to own your home, be married, or have a certain income level to open your door to a child who needs one.

Age and marital status

According to the South Dakota Foster Parent Handbook, foster parents must be at least 18 years old. That’s the floor. There’s no upper age limit specified. You can be single, married, divorced, or widowed. Two unmarried adults living together may also apply. The state is looking for stable, capable caregivers, not a particular family structure.

Household composition

Everyone in your home matters in this process, not just you. South Dakota’s administrative rules define a “household member” as any person who uses the facility as a permanent or part-time residence and who may have contact with children placed there. That means your spouse, partner, teenagers, adult children living at home, and anyone else who stays with you regularly will be part of the review. It means the state wants to understand your whole home environment, not just the person filling out the application.

Income

You don’t need to be wealthy. What the state wants to know is that your family’s basic needs are already being met before a foster child arrives. The Foster Parent Handbook makes clear that foster care payments are meant to cover the costs of caring for a foster child, not to supplement your household income. So the question isn’t whether you’re comfortable, but whether you’re financially stable enough that the child’s needs won’t create a crisis.

Physical and mental health

You’ll need to show that you’re healthy enough to care for a child. That means a physical exam for you and any adults in the home. South Dakota administrative rules require that applicants and their families meet physical health standards, and the licensing process will also look at emotional and mental health. A history of mental health treatment doesn’t automatically disqualify you. What matters is whether your health, physical or mental, would affect your ability to provide safe and consistent care for a child.

What the state is actually looking for

South Dakota needs foster families across a wide range of backgrounds, and that’s reflected in who they’re actively recruiting. The Foster and Adoptive Parent Diligent Recruitment Plan identifies particular need for families who can care for teenagers, sibling groups, children with behavioral or medical needs, and Native American children, who make up nearly 71 percent of kids in custody statewide.

The requirements exist to protect children, not to keep good people out. If you’re a stable adult with a safe home and genuine commitment, the odds are good that you’re exactly who this process is designed to find.

Background check requirements in South Dakota

Before a child can be placed in your home, South Dakota requires every adult in your household to pass a series of background checks. This isn’t paperwork for its own sake. It’s the state’s way of making sure every child placed with you is as safe as the day they arrived.

Who has to complete the checks

It’s not just you. According to South Dakota’s background check requirements, checks are required for all household members over the age of 18, including anyone who supervises children in care or who has unsupervised access to them. If you have an adult child living at home, a partner, or a relative who stays regularly, they’ll need to go through the same process you do.

What checks are required

There are five required checks. According to South Dakota’s child care provider background screening page, every applicant must complete:

• A search of the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect
• A search of the South Dakota Sex Offender Registry
• A South Dakota criminal record check, which requires fingerprints
• An FBI criminal record check, also fingerprint-based
• A National Crime Information Center (NCIC) sex offender registry check

If you or any adult in your household has lived outside South Dakota in the past five years, out-of-state checks are also required. That means a central registry check, a criminal background check, and a sex offender registry check for each state where that person has lived.

For the fingerprint-based checks, digital live scan fingerprinting is the faster option and reduces the chance your prints get rejected and need to be resubmitted.

What it costs

For out-of-state applicants requesting a South Dakota criminal record check, the fee is $26.75, submitted with a fingerprint card and a signed authorization form. The state pays any fees associated with in-state checks for licensed providers.

Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency for specifics on what you’ll be responsible for.

How often do the checks need to be renewed

According to South Dakota’s child care provider background screening page, in-state background screenings are required every five years.

What can disqualify you

Some findings will make a person ineligible, with no exceptions. The state background check guidelines are clear that the following will disqualify an applicant:

• Any crime indicating harmful behavior toward children
• A crime of violence as defined by state law
• Child abuse convictions
• Sex offense convictions
• Felony spousal abuse, or felony physical assault or battery
• Any other felony within the preceding five years
• Appearance on the Central Registry for Child Abuse and Neglect, including similar findings from other states

Beyond criminal history, South Dakota’s Central Registry guide makes clear that anyone whose name is on the Central Registry can’t be licensed as a family foster home, can’t live in a licensed foster home, and can’t live in a home where day care is provided. A person can request removal from the Central Registry after five years have passed since the last substantiated finding, but certain crimes extend that timeline.

Three other things will also disqualify someone outright: refusing to consent to a background check, making false statements in connection with one, or being registered or required to be registered on a sex offender registry.

If you have something in your past you’re worried about, talk to your licensing worker before you get deep into the process. Not everything is automatically disqualifying, and it’s far better to have that conversation early.

What to expect from the home study

Most people going into the home study expect something that feels like an inspection. What it actually feels like, for most families, is a long conversation with someone who genuinely wants to understand you.

Who conducts it

The home study is conducted by a Licensing Specialist. According to the South Dakota foster parent handbook, the Licensing Specialist is the person responsible for evaluating your home and walking you through the licensing process. They work for the Office of Licensing and Accreditation, which sits within the Department of Social Services. Their job isn’t to catch you failing. It’s to gather enough information to make sure any child placed with you will be safe and cared for.

What they’re actually looking for

The Licensing Specialist will look at two things: your home environment and your household. On the environment side, they’ll walk through your house to confirm it meets physical safety standards. On the household side, they’ll spend time talking with you, and with other adults in the home, to get a picture of who you are, how you parent, how you handle stress, and what your support network looks like.

The South Dakota administrative rules governing family foster homes require an evaluation of the applicant’s ability to provide care, as well as physical health standards for the applicant and the applicant’s family. In plain terms: they want to know you’re healthy enough to care for a child, and that you have the emotional and practical capacity to do it.

They’re also going to be interested in your motivation. Not because there’s a wrong answer, but because understanding why you want to foster helps the state match children to homes well.

What the visit covers

Expect the home study to include:

• A walkthrough of your home, including sleeping areas, bathrooms, and any outdoor spaces children will use
• Interviews with all adults in the household
• A conversation about your parenting history, your background, and your expectations for fostering
• A review of the documents you’ve already submitted, including background check results

The Licensing Specialist will also confirm that your home has what the administrative rules describe as the basic infrastructure for care: working phones, adequate space, safe transportation, and appropriate insurance.

How long it takes

The home study itself, meaning the actual visit, typically takes several hours. The full licensing process, from application through approval, takes longer. The state doesn’t publish a single guaranteed timeline, and timelines can vary based on how quickly your paperwork and background checks are processed. What you can do is stay responsive. Return calls quickly. Get your documents in order before the visit.

One thing to remember

The Licensing Specialist is part of your team, not a gatekeeper looking for reasons to say no. The foster parent handbook is explicit that foster parents work alongside Family Services Specialists, Licensing Specialists, and birth families as members of a professional team. That relationship starts here, at the home study.

Pre-service training requirements

Before a child is ever placed in your home, you’ll complete a training program designed to prepare you for the real work of fostering. This isn’t a formality. It’s 30 hours of structured content that covers the situations you’ll actually face, and it’s required of all prospective foster and adoptive families in South Dakota.

The core program: what it is and how it works

According to South Dakota’s foster and adoptive parent training page, the 30-hour program is delivered through a combination of online and classroom sessions. That mix is intentional: it gives you flexibility without cutting corners on content.

South Dakota’s foster parenting overview lists completion of this program as one of the basic licensing requirements. You won’t receive your license until it’s done.

What the training covers

The standard pre-service curriculum addresses the full range of challenges you’re likely to encounter as a foster parent. Topics include:

• Human growth and development
• Attachment and loss
• Child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
• Protecting and nurturing children, including approaches to discipline
• Effects of addiction on children
• Promoting permanency outcomes
• Kinship care

UNITY: training designed for Native American families

South Dakota has a specific curriculum called UNITY for prospective foster parents of Native American children. As the foster and adoptive parent training page explains, UNITY is a 30-hour curriculum grounded in the traditions and cultures of Indian people. It was developed in response to issues that Native American foster parents themselves identified as important. The curriculum covers the same core topics as the standard program but adds content on historical trauma and intergenerational grief, as well as kinship care and self-esteem.

To learn more about UNITY sessions, you can contact the Inquiry Coordinator at 605.221.2390 or reach Sicangu Child and Family Services in Mission at 605.856.4855.

How to get started

South Dakota’s foster family recruitment site describes the training step as coming after an initial home consultation, and before the final licensing assessment. That means by the time you’re sitting in your first training session, you’ve already had someone visit your home and answer your questions.

Your first contact is the Inquiry Coordinator, who can be reached at RFS@LssSD.org or through the Stronger Families Together site. They’ll point you toward scheduled sessions and let you know what to expect.

Individual agencies may add orientation sessions or additional requirements beyond the state-mandated 30 hours. Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency for specifics.

License types and renewal in South Dakota

If you’ve started researching foster care in South Dakota, you’ve probably seen the word “approval” used more than “license.” That’s not an accident. The state issues approvals for family foster homes, and understanding the different categories will help you know exactly what you’re working toward.

What a foster home approval actually covers

South Dakota licenses family foster homes under its administrative rules, and according to South Dakota administrative rules article 67:42, a “license” is the document that certifies a provider meets applicable licensing standards. For family foster homes, this means your home has been evaluated and found to meet the state’s requirements for safely caring for children placed in your home by the Department of Social Services.

The South Dakota Foster Parent Handbook identifies several distinct placement types that fall under the foster care umbrella. Basic foster care is the standard approval most families pursue. Beyond that, there’s treatment foster care, which serves children with higher medical, behavioral, or developmental needs. Child placement agencies provide treatment foster care services, including case management and additional in-home support, so if you pursue that level of care, you’ll be working more closely with an agency alongside the state.

Provisional and temporary approvals

Not every family starts with a full approval, and that’s fine. The process is designed to get children into safe homes even when paperwork is still in motion. A provisional approval can be issued while the full licensing process is being completed, allowing placements to happen before every step is finalized. Temporary approvals serve a similar function, often used when a child needs an emergency or short-term placement and the home shows it can meet basic standards right now.

Annual renewal

Your foster home approval doesn’t last forever on its own. As South Dakota’s administrative rules establish, licenses are subject to renewal, and the state’s framework includes an initial evaluation and approval process followed by ongoing renewal requirements. In practice, this means your licensing specialist will return to your home, review any changes in your household, and confirm you’re still meeting the standards that got you approved in the first place.

The Foster Parent Handbook makes clear that foster parents are expected to report incidents and changes in circumstances on an ongoing basis, not just at renewal time. Moving, adding a household member, a change in employment, a health issue: these are all things your licensing specialist needs to know about, and they may affect your renewal.

As of mid-2025, South Dakota had 788 basic foster homes licensed statewide, according to the Foster and Adoptive Parent Diligent Recruitment Plan.

Staying licensed: what’s required after approval

Getting licensed isn’t a one-time event. Your license has to be renewed, and the state will check in on you regularly to make sure your home still meets standards.

Annual reevaluations

Your license is reviewed on a regular basis, and that review includes your licensing specialist coming back to look at your home and your household. According to South Dakota’s administrative rules for family foster homes, licenses are subject to renewal through an evaluation process, and any changes in your circumstances are part of what gets assessed.

Continuing training

You were required to complete pre-service training before your license was issued. That training requirement doesn’t stop there. South Dakota’s foster parent handbook outlines that additional training is available and expected for foster parents beyond the initial pre-service requirement. The handbook also notes that reimbursement for training is available, so completing ongoing education doesn’t have to come out of your pocket.

Reporting obligations and household changes

This is the part of staying licensed that catches some foster parents off guard, mostly because life keeps moving. People move in, people move out, health situations change. South Dakota’s administrative rules include a specific provision on reporting incidents or changes in circumstances. What that means practically is that you’re expected to notify your licensing specialist when something significant changes in your home. That includes:

• New adults moving into the household
• Changes in the health of household members
• Any incidents involving a child in your care
• Criminal charges or convictions involving anyone in the home

According to South Dakota’s administrative rules, background checks and screening for substantiated reports of abuse and neglect are part of the licensing process, and those requirements can be triggered again by certain household changes. If someone new moves in who is old enough to have contact with children in your care, expect that person to go through clearances.

Your licensing specialist is your main point of contact for all of this. If you’re not sure whether something needs to be reported, the answer is almost always to make the call and ask. Reporting something that turns out not to be required is never going to hurt your license. Failing to report something that was required can.