Community Corner
Simply Smiles Spearheads Foster Home Safe Zones Law
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council has, via unanimous vote, adopted into law an extensive Foster Home Safe Zones Ordinance.
Foster Home Safe Zones Law passed!
The Simply Smiles Children’s Village on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation exists to provide a safe and stable environment where Native American children in foster care can heal and thrive.
Today, we are happy to announce that Simply Smiles has spearheaded a successful effort to enact first-of-its-kind legislation that will help keep foster children in Indian Country safe.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council has, via unanimous vote, adopted into law an extensive Foster Home Safe Zones Ordinance.
Modeled after school zone laws, the new law protects any foster home on the Reservation including of course the Simply Smiles Children’s Village. Some key provisions include:
- A firearm or dangerous weapon cannot be discharged within a half-mile of a foster home.
- Access to foster homes is restricted to authorized persons only.
- A host of protections to ensure that foster homes can operate without interruption, distraction, or harassment.
Simply Smiles continues to blaze a new path forward in our mission to redefine how foster care is delivered.
We would like to thank our supporters for making our work here on Cheyenne River possible, the Waśagiya Najin (Standing Strong) Grandmothers’ Group for helping to lobby for the law’s adoption, our pro-bono partners in the Native Law group at Kilpatrick & Townsend, and the Cheyenne River Tribal Council.
