Foster home program expands to Sioux Falls with new care model

Two new foster homes through the Bridges Program by Abbott House are opening in Sioux Falls, bringing what the organization calls a new approach to foster care to the community.

Abbott House is a therapeutic residential treatment and foster care service in South Dakota, with foster homes in Rapid City, Mitchell and now Sioux Falls.

The nonprofit organization does foster care “differently,” said Eric Klooz, executive director.

“We’re a different brand of foster care,” Klooz said. “We want our kids to be prepared when they age out. These houses are just in normal neighborhoods, the kids go to public school, and we have a good hired family for them.”

Abbott House foster care homes can have up to six children placed in them, and often a couple or two individuals to serve as their family. Abbott House provides the home, the cars, the utilities, the budget for food and everything the family needs for the house.

Abbott House raised $2 million to support the two new therapeutic foster homes, Klooz said.

“We’ve been doing this since 2012,” he said. “Research shows foster kids have more success in this type of care. We also don’t see a lot of turnovers from the hired family who runs the house as we offer the family a lot of support and additional staff help.”

Mitchell and Rapid City each have four homes.

“I used to see foster kids grow up and not be ready for the world coming out of the foster care system,” Klooz said. “We wanted to offer them a normal life and the same opportunities that my kids would get.”

The new houses are near 41st Street and Sycamore Avenue and were originally five-bedroom houses. Abbott House has added two bedrooms to each house to ensure every youth will get their own bedroom.

“Abbott House was originally a residential program for girls,” Klooz said. “So we had started these homes for the girls. The state soon realized these are cheaper and are better for the children long term.”

Abbott House now receives referrals from foster programs across the state, including McCrossan Boys Ranch, Children’s Home Society, LSS and other organizations.

“A lot of traditional homes can’t take sibling groups either,” Klooz said. “We try to keep them together and are able to provide that for siblings.”

Abbott House applied for a Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce appeals campaign and was accepted earlier this year. A fundraising campaign in 2026 will raise money for two more homes in Sioux Falls.

“In South Dakota, there are not enough foster care options, and we try to fill that gap,” Klooz said. “We are always full and have a four-month waitlist at Abbott House right now. The homes help kids who don’t need residential care.”

Klooz explained that children “get stuck” in residential placement when they don’t need it, and these homes are statistically a better alternative.

Abbott House is careful to allow hired families to get established first, Klooz said. The family is trained, typically a couple of months, and after a month of training, the first two children will be placed with them.

“If it is going well after a month or so, we will place one or two more children at a time,” Klooz said. “We want to support our families so they also get respite care.”

Klooz said the organization is always looking for families and people to work with youths.

“Foster care feels like mission work honestly,” Klooz said. “It’s not for everyone, but we just look for individuals who want to help love these kids. We’re just so grateful to all the people who have stepped up to help out.”

Click here for the Abbott House wishlist for the two new houses.