South Dakota
‘The kids are what you love:’ South Dakota foster families share their stories
Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series of stories on children that Jackie Hendry, producer and host of South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s “South Dakota Focus” is writing for South Dakota News Watch. Each month, she previews the upcoming show.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota has more children in the foster system than families to care for them. On average, there were more than 1,000 children in the system in any given month last year, but just over 800 foster families licensed statewide.
Children enter the system for a number of reasons, but the leading causes of foster placement in the state are neglect, parental substance abuse and parental incarceration, according to the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect.
The shortage of foster families is not a new problem.
In May 2021, Gov. Kristi Noem launched the Stronger Families Together initiative to highlight the need. In an email, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services said 2,000 families have reached out for more information since the program’s launch, and 669 families have completed screening and training to become licensed foster care providers.
But the need persists.
“Foster families are needed in all communities across South Dakota, most critically in the western and central parts of the state,” the DSS spokesperson continued. “Foster families are needed for all ages and genders; however, there is a significant need for more Native American foster families. The Department also holds a need for foster families who can be available to care for sibling groups, older children, and children whose special needs require ongoing medical, mental health, and/or behavioral health care. Foster families capable of supporting services to address the developmental needs of children are also needed.”
Current foster families receive regular communication from the Department of Social Services on children who need placement options. Two foster families in the Sioux Falls area — where most foster families in the state are located — shared their stories in hopes of encouraging other families to get involved.
Serious problems are a small part of foster care
Tammy Vande Kamp is a nurse practitioner in the mental health field in Hartford. She initially learned about foster care from her husband’s family and then from a program at their church. Their first placement was a 10-day-old newborn they took home from the neonatal intensive care unit.
“He stayed with us for eight months, and then we were able to reunify him with his mom,” said Vande Kamp.
She and her husband have been foster parents for two years. Like many foster families, the Vande Kamps get regular emails from the Department of Social Services looking for placements for kids with nowhere else to go.
“I mean – we’re full. We have right now four foster children and two biological children living in our home, so we’re at capacity, and it’s sad,” said Vande Kamp.
She worries that press coverage of the foster system is too focused on the horror stories.
“We hear about the foster children that maybe run away. Or we hear about the foster parents that abuse the foster children or the kiddos that end up going home and they end up abused or unfortunately, maybe even they’re killed. It’s a very, very small part of foster care,” Vande Kamp said. “We have been fortunate to have some beautiful children in our home. Yes, there are challenging times. Yes, we have hard times, they have hard times. But there is so much good that comes out of them and us.”
Attachment to foster family helps kids later in life
While the common stigmas about foster care are likely one deterrent for potential foster families, another source of hesitation Vande Kamp often hears is a fear of getting too attached.
“I used to feel the same way,” she said. “I learned through classes and through the program that we were teaching them how to be attached. We’re trying to teach these children to attach so that when they’re older, when they’re adults, they can attach to other people. They can trust people.”
Vande Kamp said she was sad saying goodbye to her first foster child, but she was also happy to reunify him with his mother.
“I had a peace knowing that we gave him what he needed for the time he was with us,” she said. “I knew that we gave him the best of us that we could give him, and we gave him a good start for her to then continue on.”
There are several Facebook groups for foster parenting, including one Vande Kamp joined for foster parents in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties. She consistently saw posts asking for a support group for foster parents.
“So we started one,” said Vande Kamp.
Communities challenged to lend support beyond toys
What began as a gathering at a Scooters coffee shop now is a monthly meeting at Tre Ministries in Sioux Falls. She acknowledges it can be a safe place to vent, but it’s mostly an opportunity for foster parents to get advice from each other about state forms and available services.
“Because you can ask your social worker, but sometimes they’re busy and they don’t have time to call you back,” said Vande Kamp. “And for me personally, my best resource has been other foster moms who have been in this longer than I have.”
The informal support group is one kind of resource Vande Kamp sees lacking for foster families and the children they care for.
“I think we have great resources for things. We have great resources for clothes, diapers, toys,” said Vande Kamp. “We don’t have great resources for people.”
For example, Vande Kamp said she’d love to see a movement to provide frozen meals for foster families to occasionally ease the burden of meal prep on top of other obligations. More than that, she wants to see communities rise to the occasion to serve children in need.
“One thing my children don’t need more of is toys. They don’t need more toys. They don’t need another blanket. And they don’t need another stuffed animal. They need people,” she said. “They need other adults in their lives who can be positive role models. And certainly the Native American population of children need positive Native American role models.”
Indigenous foster care in short supply
Native American children made up 74% of children in the state foster system as of May 2023. The federal Indian Child Welfare Act prioritizes placing Native children with relatives or other Native families. But of the 808 state-licensed foster families in South Dakota last year, just 86 were Native American.
Brandy and Scott Louwagie of Sioux Falls were one of those families.
Brandy is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. They’ve been fostering for 10 years and have almost exclusively had Native children placed with them. The Louwagies adopted their three children from foster care and were fostering an infant girl earlier this month.
“The responsibility that comes with being an ICWA home is just making sure those children, if they’re connected with their culture, to continue that connection,” said Brandy. “And if they’re not, introduce them to that side of their culture so that if they are seeking that when they’re older or something, it’s not something brand new to them when they’re trying to seek that heritage.”
Brandy said her Native identity has helped her develop a rapport with the birth relatives of some foster placements.
“The primary goal is always reunification of a child with their biological family,” she said. “As foster parents, it’s our job and our duty to help with that.”
Brandy and Scott work for Daktronics, and both travel frequently for their role. One resource they rely on is child care.
“If we didn’t have child care, there’s absolutely no way we could foster,” she said.
“It’d be too much impact on our lives,” he added. “We’d have to get new jobs.”
The Lost Children: An Argus Leader/South Dakota Searchlight investigation into ICWA in South Dakota
Benefit is worth the time commitment
Like other foster families, the Louwagies regularly receive emails and phone calls about children who need a place to stay.
“Our licensing person just came in to relicense us,” Brandy said. “You tell them as a foster home how many children you can accept. … So she says, ‘I know your hands are full, but can you take on more kids?’ And we’re like, we can’t. We do what we can, as much as we can. But she said, ‘We have so many children who need a placement.’”
The Louwagies also hear prospective foster parents worry about the time commitment or that they would get too attached to kids they’d ultimately return back to their families.
“We are so busy all the time,” said Brandy, gesturing to Scott. “I mean, we have sports, doctors’ visits, both of us travel — so pretty much one of us is always doing almost everything. And the thing is, yeah, the kids are what you love. That’s the only reason we do foster care is because of the kids.”
Both Brandy and Scott agree that they keep fostering because they value the chance to give children a sense of safety and security in a traumatic point in their lives.
“You just have to understand: If I can take the hurt of a child away, that’s what we’ll do,” Brandy said.
How to watch ‘South Dakota Focus’ on SDPB
The next episode of “South Dakota Focus” airs on Thursday, April 25, at 8 p.m. Central time / 7 p.m. Mountain time. It can be viewed on SDPB-TV 1, Facebook, YouTube and SD.net
The episode includes:
- Stories from two former foster children who aged out of the child welfare system
- Stories from foster families about their challenges and what keeps them motivated to care for children
- The state Legislature’s creation of the Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council within the Department of Social Services
The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra has captured the national imagination with innovative programming, original productions, and artistic tendrils of community engagement. Now, they’re planning for the future. They are challenging themselves to answer the question: What’s next?
Music director and conductor Delta David Gier stopped by the SDPB studios for an update. SDPB’s Lori Walsh asked the maestro about the recent release of a professional recording of the SDSO’s “Giants in the Earth.”
DELTA DAVID GIER
Well, it may seem like old news for a lot of people, your listeners perhaps, because we did this opera, you know, a year ago, April, and then SDPB made the video production of it and aired it last fall.
But this is the commercial recording, which is being released internationally. It actually was released in Europe before it was released here because the record label is in the Netherlands.
So, yeah, it’s really exciting. It’s very high quality. You know, it’s just top-standard recording and it sounds great.
LORI WALSH
Tell us about what goes into releasing a recording like that. How intensive is that for you? Is that something that you pass on to other people and then it comes back to your hand, or are you intricately involved in it?
DELTA DAVID GIER
Well, I spent, you know, a year ago, actually. I was in New York with a recording engineer in the Dolby studio there, and, you know, we were making a lot of decisions. So I haven’t had much to do with it in the last year. And the release of it, the timing of the release, that’s all up to the recording company. When they feel like it’s the best time, when they can get the most traction in terms of press and all of that.
LORI WALSH
So what happens next to a recording like that? What are your hopes for it in the world? Because the performance and the community aspect of it is largely what you focus on as the music director and conductor of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.
Now it has a life beyond you. How important is a recording to you as a conductor?
DELTA DAVID GIER
Well, it’s important for posterity, first of all. I mean, there was no recording of this piece of music, a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece. And so part of it was due diligence. This story takes place right here where we live in South Dakota. It tells the story of the first Norwegian immigrants coming here, and nobody could ever hear this piece before, so that’s part of it, is just sort of an altruistic thing.
The other is to make it available for people here, and again, the video that’s available on your website to watch free of charge from anybody at any time, that’s great. This is something that people can, it’s a piece of history they can either own or like you say, you can stream it.
The other thing is, I hope that, well, I mean, there’s also the recognition beyond South Dakota. Like the last recording we released had a lot of really good press, I mean, BBC, Music Magazine said, you know …
LORI WALSH
The last recording, which would have been …
DELTA DAVID GIER
Atlas of Deep Time by John Luther Adams.
That was the piece that we commissioned for our 100th anniversary season. But you know, BBC Music Magazine referenced the excellent South Dakota Symphony Orchestra players. I mean, that’s really great validation coming from press like that. So we would hope for that.
And then lastly, I would say that I would hope that other, that opera companies, orchestras, now that they have a chance to hear it, that they would pick it up and do it. That it would begin to take on a life of its own.
LORI WALSH
It’s a starting line. It’s a finish line for you, and it’s a starting line for the piece in some way.
DELTA DAVID GIER
It’s like we’ve midwifed this piece. It’s out there in the world now.
LORI WALSH
Yeah, with an imprint on it that is undeniable for future performances and programming of Giants in the Earth.
DELTA DAVID GIER
The story is out there of what the South Dakota Symphony did. I mean, it’s in the liner notes of the CD, but it’s online, so yeah.
LORI WALSH
All right, so speaking of press, I was reading Joseph Horowitz, who is a scholar in residence for the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.
DELTA DAVID GIER
Still is, actually.
LORI WALSH
Still is. And in the New York Times and in the American Scholar and both times, he’s really referencing heavily what is happening as he looks at 250 years of classical music in America and how often, in our reflections on America at 250, scholars left out any reference to the arts and what that means, what’s unique about American art, what’s unique about our canon.
Every time, he references the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. I think he said, “The repertoire is brave and the vibe is exhilarating.”
DELTA DAVID GIER
There you go. What more could you ask for? Yeah, I mean, our personnel manager will often reference that, that the reason that players come to play in this orchestra as she’s trying to fill out the orchestra — It’s not the money, because we don’t pay that well, but it’s the repertoire that we play and what she calls the vibe.
It’s the hang. It’s the fact that we have a happy orchestra, which is actually rare in our industry, like a lot of union orchestras and a lot of discontent and grousing about this and that and the other, you don’t find that in our orchestra.
It’s a very happy bunch. We’re happy to be making music together and people enjoy playing with us. So, it’s good.
LORI WALSH
You’re asking the big question, which is what’s next?
DELTA DAVID GIER
Yeah, right.
LORI WALSH
You’ve done 100 years. You’ve done Lakota Music Project, which is ongoing, of course. You’ve done Giants in the Earth.
How do you envision the future?
DELTA DAVID GIER
Well, we just spent three days last week tackling that question. I have a new friend, his name is Tom Morris, and he’s about 80, I think, or so. He was 50 years at the top of the industry. CEO of the Boston Symphony, CEO of the Cleveland Orchestra, CEO of the Ohio Music Festival.
And he, through various channels, learned about the SDSO became intrigued with it, actually came to the production of Giants in the Earth last year, and that was the question he asked.
After the dress rehearsal, we went out for a drink, and he says, So what’s next? We got the whole nation’s attention now. Don’t squander this moment.
And so he actually put together a group of four people that came and spent three days with us last week, just exploring the question of what’s next for the SDSO.
And, you know, it was a huge validation because all four of these people who, like Tom, had been in the industry for decades and are retired now and giving back. They came free of charge, just, you know, they do this with other orchestras occasionally too, but they just said, you know, It’s extraordinary what’s happening here.
What they were enamored with — yeah, the programming and so on — but the tendrils that we send out into the community for every program that we do, like the impact.
So if you look, if you read that article in the New York Times that Joe Horowitz wrote a couple of weeks ago about classical music in America at 250, he talks about the troubles that some American orchestras are having.
The epicenter of it right now is the Boston Symphony. Yeah, financial troubles, but audience troubles and relevance issues. Just the whole classical music relevance issue. And basically, we don’t have that issue because we’re going deep into the community. And whether it’s education, and our education is K through higher ed, like universities to kindergarten, and everything in between. And we worked really hard to make sure that each one of our programs has those elements in it.
It’s different, different ethnic communities, Lakota Music Project, of course, but also our Bridging Cultures program with South Asian, Chinese, Hispanic, communities within our community and how we connect with them.
For example, our opening concert in the fall, it’s all rhapsodies, famous rhapsodies from our repertoire, but we have a new rhapsody, a Guatemalan rhapsody that’s being composed for us will premiere it by a Guatemalan composer, and right now we’re working on making connections with the Guatemalan community here in Sioux Falls, which I understand is the largest Hispanic population we have here.
So really looking forward to that, but we’ve done quite a bit of it, and it’s a matter of sitting down with the people of that community and asking the question, what’s most meaningful for you?
What’s most impactful for your community? How can we serve you? How can we partner together? We’re not trying to get anything out of that community. We’re trying to figure out ways that we can enrich the life of Sioux Falls by making music together.
LORI WALSH
How do you open the door for really innovative answers?
DELTA DAVID GIER
Right. It’s mostly listening, honestly. You go into the initial meeting like that, whether it’s with an ethnic community or principals of the high schools. Like Brian Maher put together this meeting. I walk in there and he’s talking about, you know, the orchestra engaging with the high schools and the principals are like, what? What are we talking? Math teachers, you know, whatever. What are you talking about? You know, so we’re going through this. And Tim Haslett from Roosevelt, the principal at Roosevelt said, at one point, Hey wait, you could build a program around the Holocaust for me, couldn’t you?
I said, you’re absolutely right, I could. Every 10th grader in Sioux Falls reads Romeo and Juliet. I can build a program around Romeo and Juliet to deepen their engagement with that.
These are the conversations. You gotta get through the bridge, or break the ice of What’s a symphony orchestra? What does this cultural institution do for the community? It’s not just an entertainment option for people who happen to kind of like that stuff. This is like history and all of that.
LORI WALSH
So how do you measure outcomes of different programs?
DELTA DAVID GIER
Well, that’s more difficult in terms of: sometimes it’s ticket sales, sometimes it’s number of students engaged. I think about one of the Joseph Horowitz programs we did, Copeland in Mexico, which we worked really hard to engage the Hispanic population here. And through the National Endowment for the Humanities, we had tickets available. And we had 1,000 vouchers out to the Hispanic community for free tickets to this concert. And over two concerts, we had 650 of them redeemed. So that’s pretty good. I think the metric changes depending upon who we’re engaging.
SDSU loading up a couple of buses to bring students to a concert after Joe and I have been in the classrooms up there for the last couple of weeks talking about Shostakovich or whatever. How many people stay for a post-concert discussion?
We did that for Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, and we had about 50 chairs set up on the third floor for this, and there were like 180 people that showed up because everybody wanted to talk about what they just experienced, you know. It’s a small kind of metric, but it’s like, yeah, okay, we struck a chord, so to speak.
LORI WALSH
So how you measure outcome is continuously measuring it and measuring in different ways. Different ways, different formats — from participation and raw numbers of ticket sales to the “vibe,” as we were saying. The people in the room who want to talk about something, the press coverage that you’re getting, the excitement that the orchestra is building, the way that you can sit in a room and hear innovative ideas from a community that you haven’t engaged with yet, whether that’s in a high school or whether it’s with a Spanish-speaking group. All of that and more.
DELTA DAVID GIER
And the desire to re-engage.
Like if we did Lakota Music Project once and never did it again, then that would not be a good metric. But the fact that we’ve been at it for over 15 years now and people invite us back and want to continue the engagement, that’s a good metric.
LORI WALSH
What’s next for you personally? What are you excited about? When somebody asks that question, What’s next, it’s easy to focus on the community, it’s easy to focus on the musicians, the quote-unquote happiness of the orchestra. How about you personally and professionally?
DELTA DAVID GIER
I’ve basically devoted the second half of my life to this, this orchestra in this community. So I’m pretty excited about where we are and where we can go.
I think that the outcome of these three days with these industry professionals last week was we’re doing really great stuff. You need to be, we, we need to figure out ways to, to basically, honestly, fund it so that you can do more and deeper. You know, it’s not doing more for the sake of doing more. It’s how can we do this deeper and better.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The South Dakota Department of Health has confirmed three cases of cyclosporiasis as health officials across the country investigate a growing outbreak of the parasitic illness.
According to the department’s Infectious Disease Dashboard, two cases have been reported in Pennington County and one case in Clay County.
The South Dakota cases come as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 1,600 probable cases in 34 states. Nationwide, more than 140 people have been hospitalized.
Cyclosporiasis is caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, which infects the intestines and can cause severe gastrointestinal illness. Symptoms include watery or explosive diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps, bloating and fatigue.
Unlike many common stomach illnesses that clear within a couple of days, cyclosporiasis can stick around for weeks or even months if left untreated.
Health experts say the parasite has most commonly been linked to contaminated fresh produce, including lettuce, basil, cilantro and raspberries. The parasite can also spread through contaminated water, including swimming pools and splash pads if contaminated water is swallowed. Officials note that Cyclospora is resistant to chlorine and bleach, meaning it can survive in properly chlorinated pools.
Federal investigators continue to search for the source of the nationwide outbreak, while The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said it identified lettuce and other salad greens as a potential source. The FDA said its traceback investigation is focusing on multiple produce items consumed by people who became sick.
Meanwhile, Taco Bell announced Tuesday that it has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precaution while public health officials continue their investigation. The company said it is monitoring the situation and following guidance from health authorities. Federal officials have not identified Taco Bell or any other restaurant chain as the confirmed source of the outbreak.
The South Dakota Department of Health has not announced whether the state’s three reported cases are connected to the ongoing multistate outbreak.
Health officials recommend washing fresh produce thoroughly before eating it, although experts caution that washing may not completely remove the hardy parasite. Cooking fruits and vegetables can further reduce the risk of infection.
Anyone experiencing severe diarrhea or symptoms lasting longer than 48 hours should contact a healthcare provider. Early diagnosis and treatment can help shorten the illness and reduce complications.
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Copyright 2026 KOTA. All rights reserved.
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 15, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 15 drawing
02-07-18-29-38, Powerball: 16, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from July 15 drawing
26-29-41-46-47, Star Ball: 09, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Dakota Cash numbers from July 15 drawing
01-09-10-16-33
Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 15 drawing
01-05-18-23-33, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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