Frequently Asked Questions
Whether you’ve got questions about the services Abbott House offers or how you can get involved in the work we’re doing to help kids, we’ve compiled the most frequently asked questions we receive on a regular basis.
Whether you’ve got questions about the services Abbott House offers or how you can get involved in the work we’re doing to help kids, we’ve compiled the most frequently asked questions we receive on a regular basis.
Abbott House has three programs -- a residential treatment program, a therapeutic foster care program, and an independent living program. Each program provides counseling and various types of therapy including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), neurofeedback, equine therapy, individual counseling and other therapies. In addition, young people received individualized therapy to help them address a wide range of issues including sexual abuse, grief and loss, behavior management, the circle of healing and many others.
The Abbott House cares for more than 200 South Dakota children annually, with a capacity to serve 109 children at any one time. The residential treatment program serves 45 South Dakota girls ages 7 to 17. There are eight foster homes – four in Rapid City, SD and four in Mitchell, SD. Each foster house provides a home and a family for six youth up to 18 years of age. Once young people age out of foster care or the residential treatment program, they can move to our independent living program or begin living on their own.
Children come to Abbott House because they have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect or they suffer from some type of mental health condition.
All of the children in our care come from South Dakota. They enter one of the Abbott House programs through the South Dakota Department of Social Services, Department of Corrections, the Bureau of Indian Affairs or they may come to us through a private referral.
The Larson Independent Living Program is designed for young adults 18 to 23 years old who have aged out of a treatment program or a foster care home and are interested in receiving additional support to help them be successful. The program provides assistance with finances, obtaining a driver’s license, employment search and ongoing employment responsibilities, access to colleges, universities or other advanced education programs and travel needs. Young adults live in small, furnished apartments in which rent and utilities are based on their income level with a maximum rent payment of $200 per month.
When young people finish their program at the Abbott House residential treatment program, they may return to their family or a foster family. Young people in our foster homes are occasionally reunited with family members or adopted. Other foster children grow up in our Abbott House foster homes. Young adults who complete the Larson Independent Living Program are prepared to start living independently in the community knowing Abbott House staff members are only a phone call away.