Adopting in South Dakota
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The South Dakota Department of Social Services (DSS) has an online web site where potential adoptive parents can get information about adoption and request an informational packet. Families can also find a licensed child welfare agency to help them find children who are available for adoption.
The children looking for homes through DSS have experienced abuse and/or neglect and can no longer return to their birth families. DSS works to find adoptive families for their waiting children. Many of the children have special needs and qualify for subsidies, financial assistance, resource assistance, and other post adoptive services.
Potential adoptive parents need to be at least twenty-one years of age to apply to be an adoptive parent. A DSS social worker will make contact with families who are interested in finding out more about the children available for adoption. The social worker will also outline the steps and requirements necessary to complete an adoption.
The home consultations are part of the requirements and consist of three or four visits, in addition to a home safety checklist. Thirty hours of the Parent's Resource for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE) training are required. DSS approves applicants after the home visits, training, and all required paperwork has been completed and submitted. Families who get approved to adopt will begin the match process of finding a child.
Families also have the option of finding a child through a licensed child welfare agency. These agencies work with birth families that have chosen adoption for their baby. There are times that agencies have infants who need to find an adoptive home immediately; however, many times the wait for a referral is a lengthy one.
It's important to remember that there are children all over the world who need homes. Your child may be found in a different state or even a different country.
