Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota

Description

Established in 1984, Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota provides 24/7 emergency and transitional housing for adults and children who are escaping situations of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. The facility uses security cameras and an alarm system that connects directly to police dispatch. In May 2024, the program broke ground on its new facility and officially opened its doors in August 2025.

The Safe Place Family Visitation Center (FVC) provides a neutral location for traditional and monitored visitation for children and separated or divorced parents. The FVC is for cases where there is conflict related to visitations, domestic violence, child abuse, and substance use. The FVC has age-appropriate visitation rooms and a playground.

Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota serves the following rural counties:

• Aurora
• Davison
• Douglas
• Hanson
• Hutchinson
• Jerauld
• McCook
• Miner
• Sanborn

Services offered

Shelter Services:

• Emergency Shelter: for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking and for their children
• Advocacy Services: trained advocates who provide support, including companionship at the hospital after a sexual assault; aid with protection orders, police reports, safety planning, social and legal services, and transportation; and provide referrals for medical counseling, employment, and education
• 24-hour Crisis Hotline: 605.996.4440 (toll-free 1.888.996.8909) and online chat feature on website
• Financial and Housing Assistance: ESG (Emergency Solutions Grant) and SD Security Deposit Program for temporary financial and rental assistance for qualified applicants
• Support Group: weekly meetings for clients with past or current abusive relationships
• Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP): 27-week program for individuals who abuse their partners to learn how to change their beliefs and behaviors
• Community Education: speakers, films, materials, and programs to raise awareness of and prevent domestic and sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking

Family Visitation Services:

• Supervised visits and assisted exchanges
• Common Sense Parenting of School-aged Children parenting classes
• Common Sense Parenting of Toddlers and Preschoolers parenting classes

Results

In 2024, Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota answered 404 crisis calls, provided shelter for 135 survivors, and advocated for 95 survivors. It also assisted in 11 protection orders and provided advocacy to 15 sexual assault survivors. In 2024, Safe Place added McCook County to its service area, so the program now covers 9 counties and provides advocacy and education to 38 towns.

In 2024, Safe Place provided 20 education programs, which traveled 700 miles and reached 391 individuals. Safe Place participated in several outreach events, including hosting a meet and greet at a movie premiere and tabling an information booth at community and college events. It held awareness events in April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Safe Place held its Paint the Town Purple event to raise awareness of domestic violence and decorated trees and wreaths for county courthouses.

Through its housing grants, Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota assisted 26 housing clients and assisted with 18 monthly rental payments for a total of $11,908 and 23 security deposits for a total of $8,969. It also provided motel assistance to 10 homeless clients.

Safe Place provided services to 53 families and completed 36 orientations. It conducted 421 supervised visits, 47 assisted exchanges, 25 supervised phone calls, and 35 virtual visits. Monitor Specialists traveled a total of 6,006 miles for transports.

Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota received assistance from 32 individual volunteers, including direct services, donations, shelter upkeep, fundraising, and awareness, for a total of 5,347 service hours.

Challenges

There is a perception that domestic violence and sexual assault don't happen in small towns. The program is working to provide more community awareness on these issues.

The need for FVC services is important for families in crisis, especially those experiencing domestic violence. Visitation services have very limited federal or state funding and are underutilized by the community. The continuation of the FVC is more and more dependent on funding from the community.

Replication

Community support and networking with other social service agencies are crucial.

Contact Information

Topics
Abuse and violence · Families · Housing and homelessness

States served
South Dakota

Date added
November 14, 2017

Suggested citation: Rural Health Information Hub, 2025 . Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota [online]. Rural Health Information Hub. Available at: https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/project-examples/986 [Accessed 21 November 2025]