South Dakota Foster Care Home Safety Standards: What the Inspection Covers

The home safety inspection is one of the most anxiety-producing parts of the foster care licensing process. Most applicants can't find a clear, consolidated list of what the licensing specialist is actually looking for — so they either spend weeks over-preparing, or they miss something obvious and have to schedule a second visit.

This post breaks down the home safety standards required under ARSD 67:42:05, which is the administrative rule that governs all family foster homes in South Dakota. These aren't suggestions — they're the legal minimums. Meet them before your inspection.

Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Smoke detectors are required on each level of the home, and in or near all sleeping areas. If your home has a basement, main floor, and upper level, you need detectors on all three. "Near" sleeping areas means in the hallway outside bedrooms, not just somewhere on the same floor.

Carbon monoxide (CO) detectors are required in any home with fuel-burning appliances — gas furnace, gas water heater, gas stove, wood stove — or with an attached garage. CO is odorless and kills quickly; DSS takes this seriously. Test the batteries on both smoke and CO detectors before the inspection. Detectors with dead batteries during a licensing visit are a documented deficiency.

Bedroom and Sleeping Requirements

ARSD 67:42:05:19 sets out sleeping space standards that go beyond "the child has a bed." The specific requirements:

Each child must have their own bed with clean linens, blankets, and a pillow. Sleeping on a couch, a sleeping bag on the floor, or sharing a bed with another child is not permitted.

Children may not share a bed with an adult. This applies to all circumstances — a young child cannot sleep in the foster parent's bed even temporarily.

Gender separation: Children over the age of six of different sexes may not share a bedroom. If you have a three-bedroom home and are planning to foster both boys and girls, think through how you'll assign rooms.

Overall capacity: The general maximum is six children in the home, including biological children under 18. No more than two children under the age of two can be in the home at once, including the foster parent's own infants or toddlers.

These rules can be waived by DSS in specific circumstances — primarily to keep a sibling group together or for kinship placements. But the waiver is at DSS discretion and requires a documented reason.

The bedroom also needs to have adequate natural light and ventilation. The licensing specialist will look at whether a room functions as a livable bedroom, not just whether a bed fits in it.

Firearms and Medications

Both are treated as locked-storage requirements, not "put them somewhere children can't reach."

Firearms must be in a locked cabinet or safe. Ammunition must be locked separately. Trigger locks on an unsecured firearm are not sufficient. The same rule applies to pellet guns and BB guns.

Medications — both prescription and over-the-counter — must be kept in a locked container or cabinet. This catches families off-guard. A childproof cap on a medicine bottle in an unlocked bathroom cabinet does not meet the standard. You need a lockbox, a locked medicine cabinet, or a cabinet with a functioning lock. All medications in the home must be secured, not just medications for the foster child.

Water Heater Temperature

Water heaters must be set at 120°F or lower. This prevents scalding for young children. The licensing specialist may ask you where your water heater is and how it's set. If you don't know, find the thermostat dial on the unit before the visit. Most water heaters shipped from the factory are set at 120-130°F; if yours is higher, turn it down and let it stabilize before the inspection.

Household Chemicals and Poisons

Cleaning products, laundry detergent pods, drain cleaners, paint, and similar household chemicals must be stored in a locked location or a location that is genuinely inaccessible to a child. "Top shelf of a closet" does not meet the standard for mobile toddlers.

A locked cabinet under the kitchen sink is the most common solution. If you have a utility room with cleaning supplies, that room should be lockable.

Pool, Pond, and Water Hazard Fencing

Any swimming pool, hot tub, or pond that could pose a drowning risk must have either secure fencing with a self-latching gate or a verified secure cover. This applies whether the water feature is on your property or directly adjacent to it.

Stock ponds on rural properties are evaluated the same way. The question the specialist is asking: could a young child in your care reach this water without a barrier stopping them?

What to Do Before Your Inspection

Walk through your home with this checklist:

• Smoke detector on every level and near every sleeping area — batteries tested
• CO detector near fuel-burning appliances or attached garage — batteries tested
• Each bedroom has an actual bed with clean bedding for each occupant
• Gender-segregated rooms for children over 6 of different sexes
• All firearms in locked storage; ammunition locked separately
• All medications (prescription and OTC) in a locked container
• Water heater set at 120°F or below
• Household chemicals locked away
• Pool/pond/hot tub fenced or securely covered
• No trip hazards, broken stairs, or structural safety issues
• Clear egress from all sleeping areas (windows or doors that open to escape in a fire)

The licensing specialist is not looking for a perfect home. They're looking for a safe one. Most of these items take an afternoon to correct. A trigger lock on a gun and a lockbox from a hardware store solves two items at once.

Fire Safety: Egress and Emergency Plans

South Dakota expects foster homes to have a fire evacuation plan. This is less formal than it sounds — you don't need to submit a written plan, but you should be prepared to explain how children in your care would exit in an emergency, and the inspector may look at whether bedroom windows can be opened and provide sufficient exit space.

Egress windows that have been painted shut, blocked by furniture, or are too small to exit through are deficiencies. Smoke detectors that are disconnected because they were going off from cooking are a safety hazard.

If your home is two stories or higher, know whether you have ladder access to second-floor windows. Some licensing specialists will ask.

Getting the Complete Picture

The South Dakota Foster Care Licensing Guide covers these home safety standards alongside the full licensing process — PRIDE training requirements, background check sequencing, the home study interview, and rural property standards. The safety inspection is one component of a multi-month process, and preparing for it alongside the paperwork requirements (physical exams, references, financial documentation) makes the whole process move faster.

If your home needs changes before it passes — a locked gun cabinet, a medication lockbox, smoke detectors in new locations — these are inexpensive fixes that most applicants complete in a few days. The inspection is designed to be passable. Prepare for it and it is.

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