The tribal government has been a core partner in building our children’s village on the Reservation. The Tribal Council unanimously and formally endorsed the village’s creation, adopted the Foster Home Safe Zone law, and offered support throughout the building and launch.

In May 2023, the CRST Tribal Council approached Simply Smiles with an offer to assume ownership and operational responsibility of the children’s village in order to pursue their long-held and deep desire to have an independent, tribally owned and operated, child welfare initiative on the Reservation. Because Simply Smiles had created a beautiful facility and initiated a foster care program on their Reservation, this vision was now, finally, within the Tribe’s reach.

Over the next year, our staff and board of directors worked collaboratively and tirelessly with the Tribe on the details of the transfer of ownership. We wanted to be sure that this was done in a manner that put the Tribe in a position of strength, ready to continue further down the path of this first-of-its-kind effort to care for Native children. After achieving that goal, we look forward to seeing how tribal ownership can positively impact generations of Native children.

Supporting Native nations to exercise their sovereignty (their independence) is the right thing to do.

The right way for Simply Smiles to support the Tribe is to acknowledge and trust that they know what is best for their community, especially when it comes to strengthening their child welfare system. Not doing so, most often with justifications of lack of capacity, is the common denominator for so many failed government, church, and charitable programs. Simply Smiles is determined to not repeat these mistakes.

How Native children are raised, and by whom, is one of the most important and sensitive issues for Native people. There is even a Federal law (the Indian Child Welfare Act, or “ICWA”) that codifies a preference for Native children to be raised by Natives and in their own communities. Simply Smiles was invited by the Tribe and tribal elders to facilitate caring for Lakota children via creating our village on the Cheyenne River Reservation. While the guidance of our Native partners and the letter and spirit of ICWA were central in what we built, the reality was always that Simply Smiles is a non-Native organization and for various reasons we required partnerships with both the Tribe and with the State of South Dakota Department of Social Services to run the village.

Several decades before Simply Smiles began our work on the Reservation, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, out of necessity, reluctantly outsourced the day-to-day operations of their child welfare needs to the state of South Dakota. This relinquishing of sovereignty and direct control over the future of their most vulnerable children was an anathema to the Cheyenne River community. In practice, it often resulted in Native children being placed outside of Native communities and with non-Native families. The Simply Smiles Children’s Village was designed to be, and successfully became, a huge step toward improving this situation by providing a child welfare program on the Reservation far more in line with Lakota desires and values.

During our time caring for Native foster children at the village, Simply Smiles employed Native people as foster parents, as the village’s director, and as the village’s clinical coordinator, as well as in other roles. With the approval of our Native partners and advisors, we also employed non-Native persons as foster parents and in management positions. State of South Dakota Child Protective Services provided oversight, required compliance with state and federal laws, and assigned a caseworker for each child living at the village.

Thanks to the Simply Smiles Children’s Village, the Tribe now has a path toward their vision of a tribal child welfare program run independently of non-Native entities, including the state of South Dakota’s oversight and control.

For Native people, this is more than a matter of practice or preference. Assuming full control and responsibility for their children's future is a matter of surviving in the world as a Lakota people. For Simply Smiles, respecting and supporting the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to do so is a tremendous success we can all be proud of.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe intends to continue the fundamental vision for the village by using it to provide care for children who have been removed from their homes. How that shared vision is executed will surely be different and will take some time to develop and implement. There are many ways to define success and we look forward to seeing how the Tribe charts their course forward.

Independent tribal ownership and management will also give the Tribe the option to offer services in addition to family foster care such as emergency shelter care and whole-family restoration efforts. The Tribe is committed to using the village to address the varied needs of the community’s children. And we are excited that they will be able to do so out of the beautiful facility that Simply Smiles built.

With the keys to the children’s village in hand, the Tribe is incredibly motivated to provide a fully Native-operated child welfare program on their Reservation.

We hope that, with a modified operational model and the village being Native-owned and managed, tribal members who were previously unable to commit to becoming a state-licensed foster parent or relief caregiver, as well as those who were uncomfortable engaging with the state of South Dakota, will serve as village staff persons.

In terms of operational funding, as a tribal nation, the Tribe has access to government funding sources beyond what Simply Smiles was able to access as a not-for-profit organization. While the tribe will determine their own funding sources, they will likely use TITLE IV-E funding, which is federal funding for government child welfare programs. They may also choose to access “638” Medicaid reimbursement rates, which provide expanded funding for offering services in underserved areas. Simply Smiles does not intend to provide further financial support for the village under tribal ownership.

Yes. But the transfer to the Lakota people was possible sooner than we anticipated. That’s a good thing!

When we partnered with the Cheyenne River community in 2009, our tactic was to combine the knowledge and capacity of the Lakota people with the resources that Simply Smiles brought to the equation. The ultimate goal was that this chemistry would strengthen the community to be able to address their needs without, or with reduced, ongoing support from Simply Smiles.

When we broke ground on the children’s village, one of our objectives was that children in our care would emerge from the village to become future leaders of the Lakota people. We were so pleased to see that the village inspired and positioned the current Reservation leadership to pursue a brighter future for the community’s children through the acquisition of the children’s village facility and the creation of an independent tribal child welfare program.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has assumed full ownership and operational responsibility for the children’s village facility. This includes the 99-year land lease being reassigned to the Tribe. Simply Smiles has not retained any ownership stake or operational rights or obligations. The village has been completely transferred to the Tribe to support their creation of an independent tribal child welfare program.

It should be noted that Simply Smiles did not seek or receive any financial profit in transferring village ownership to the Tribe. Part of the deal did include the Tribe assuming the responsibility for “forgivable” financing from the South Dakota Housing Development Authority (financing that doesn’t need to be paid back if certain criteria are met for a term) and also satisfying financing that represented a small fraction of the village’s construction costs.

We wanted to be sure that the transfer of the village to the Tribe was done in a manner that put the Tribe in a position of strength, ready to provide care for Native children, while also ensuring that Simply Smiles had no further financial obligation or liabilities. We believe we succeeded in that goal.

The day-to-day operations of the village are now the sole responsibility of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. While we have offered our guidance and availability to support the passing of the village facility to the Tribe, Simply Smiles does not intend to engage in the ongoing operations of, or vision for, the village.

Too often tribal nations or Native entities receive responsibility, ownership, possession of land or property, etc., only nominally. It is extremely important to the success of the Tribe’s child welfare efforts at the village that Simply Smiles does not appear to be, or actually be, “behind the scenes” in any way, as this would dilute the impact, opportunities, and possibilities that come with Native ownership and autonomy.

Not at this time.

We are honored to have been welcomed into the Lakota community and able to engage in meaningful, equitable, partnerships that, for 15 years, made life better for the children and families of the Reservation. We believe that our actions have built the capacity of our friends and partners. Now is the time to step back and allow Cheyenne River to take our shared vision for the tribe’s children forward and further.

While a step back from our previous level of engagement on the Reservation is necessary, Simply Smiles has developed many meaningful and committed relationships among the Lakota people and the challenges of life in that environment of course persist.

The Simply Smiles Reservation Emergency Fund will be used to respond to emergency needs on the Cheyenne River Reservation at the discretion of Simply Smiles. Examples include support after natural disasters such as blizzards and emergency medical expenses.

Thank you for your generosity! Donations designated to the Reservation dated March 18, 2024 and after are being applied to the Simply Smiles Reservation Emergency Fund.

Donations designated to the children’s village on the Reservation that were received previously were allocated to village-related expenses.

More providing bright futures for children in need via our village model!

For the immediate future, we will be focusing our efforts on our incredible Simply Smiles Children’s Village in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Since 2003, Simply Smiles has partnered with communities to build and support “Casa Hogar” homes for children, construct dozens of houses for families, provide emergency aid, perform large-scale public health interventions, run countless youth programs, build schools, create two first-of-their-kind children’s villages…and so much more.

The next community Simply Smiles supports will receive the same level of commitment, equitable partnership, and positive impact. And we know that you, the incredible Simply Smiles team, will be there to offer the support, sweat, and generosity that make our work possible. You have our deepest thanks.