Justice
Total 87 Posts
Governor to enact reform of youth treatment facilities
Gov. Kristi Noem has ordered the state Department of Social Services to enact a series of wide-ranging reforms intended to improve the safety of youths sent to privately run treatment facilities across South Dakota.
The governor’s announcement came in response to an investigative report published June 5 by South
Residents suffer physical, mental and sexual abuse at South Dakota youth home
PLANKINTON, S.D. – Youths and young adults housed at the Aurora Plains Academy in Plankinton have endured physical, mental and sexual abuse by employees amid an internal culture of secrecy and limited state government oversight, according to public documents and testimony from former residents and employees of the facility.
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Aurora Plains Academy: Unsafe place to live, difficult place to work
PLANKINTON, S.D. – The stories of abuse and anguish told by former employees, former residents and parents of residents paint a frightening picture of what has taken place over the past decade at the Aurora Plains Academy intensive youth treatment facility in Plankinton.
Parents remain outraged at how their vulnerable
ATVs more common on South Dakota roadways where risk of death is greater
SUMMERSET, S.D. – The number of all-terrain vehicles registered for road use in South Dakota has risen dramatically in recent years, even as a growing body of research shows that ATVs are more dangerous and deadly on roadways than in off-road areas.
ATVs certified as legal to drive on South
After 10 years in prison, woman vows to end meth addiction
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The turbulent path that led Athanasia Comer of Sioux Falls to a life of drinking, drugs and a decade behind bars can be traced to the moment when she was 11 and her stepfather appeared in her bedroom naked.
Though he had been verbally and physically
Woman forges new future with family, not meth
RAPID CITY, S.D. – The lowest, most frightening point of Brandi Snow-Fly’s 15-year methamphetamine addiction wasn’t getting arrested, going to prison or losing custody of her children.
The bottom came when Snow-Fly was in California several years ago, on the back end of a 5-month meth bender during
At age 60, madness of meth still haunts woman
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – In addiction parlance, it’s often said that an alcoholic or drug user must “hit rock bottom” before they can finally lift themselves to sobriety.
For Teresa Peratt of Sioux Falls, the trauma throughout her life was so great – and her addiction and drug use so