A first-of-its-kind foster parent organization is looking for adults to become full-time, professional foster parents at the Simply Smiles Children’s Village on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota.
The Simply Smiles Children’s Village is an intentional community of foster families serving the children most at-risk on the Reservation. The Village offers child placement options that fulfill the spirit of the Indian Child Welfare Act by ensuring that Native children who have been removed from their homes can remain with kin and community.
President and Founder Bryan Nurnberger says the foster parents live at individual foster homes at the Simply Smiles Children’s Village in La Plant, SD. He says the adults will help raise Native children in an environment rooted in Lakota traditions and guided by trauma-informed, therapeutic healing practices. They work with the other foster parents in the Village and are supported by mental health professionals, Simply Smiles staff members and community elders to instill perspective, culture and wisdom.
In addition to housing, comprehensive training and licensing are provided, as well as a salary and benefits. Applications for foster parents, as well as for part-time relief caregiver positions, will be accepted and reviewed on an ongoing basis.
To apply to become a foster parent, please visit simplysmiles.org/foster. Full and part-time positions are available. For more information about the Simply Smiles Children’s Village, please visit: simplysmiles.org/crst-childrens-village.
In March 2020, Simply Smiles opened the doors to its first foster home in the Reservation Children’s Village. In October 2020, the first children were placed at the Simply Smiles Children’s Village by the Tribal Court of the Cheyenne River Reservation and the State of South Dakota Department of Social Services.
The Simply Smiles Children’s Village is a collaborative effort, with formal support from the Cheyenne River Tribal Council, partnerships with tribal elders and licensing from the State of South Dakota Department of Social Services, as well as the support of Native American luminaries and activists across the country.
About Simply Smiles:
Simply Smiles is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that builds villages of foster homes where children are raised by families and in strong intentional communities. Simply Smiles currently operates two Children’s Villages in Oaxaca, Mexico, and on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. At Simply Smiles Children’s Villages, children live with loving parents and receive individualized, culturally specific, trauma-informed care that honors connection to biological family and allows children to heal and thrive. Simply Smiles recognizes the strength that is born from overcoming adversity, and it nurtures children to become adults who are driven and prepared to fulfill their dreams and to help better society—for us all. For more information, visit: www.simplysmiles.org.
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