South Dakota program
A break from caregiving (Respite Care Program)
South Dakota’s respite program helps pay for someone to cover care so a family caregiver can rest.
What it is
South Dakota’s respite program helps pay for someone to cover care so a family caregiver can rest.
Treatment can leave little time for sleep, work or other children. Respite offers a way to ask for paid cover at home. The program checks the care situation and whether a family-support waiver already makes the child eligible for services.
Eligibility rules
- A chronic medical condition in a child is a listed category. The child must live in a family member’s home.
What you get
- Help paying for short breaks from family caregiving.
- No income limit for the program.
What the help includes
- The program covers eligible children with chronic medical conditions who live with family, without an income limit. Eligibility for the Family Support waiver excludes this respite route, even without current services. DHS confirms the current voucher amount, care it pays for, eligible caregivers, processing time and any waiting list before paid care is arranged.
If you decide to apply
- If a break would help, ask the Department of Human Services at 605-773-3438 about the Respite Care Program.
- Describe your child’s care and any waiver services available. Ask what care the program will pay for.
South Dakota Department of Human Services: 605-773-3438 · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The Department of Human Services checks the child’s situation and explains the available help.
Good to know
Eligibility for family support waiver services excludes this respite route, even if you are not currently using those services.
Other details
- The oncology social worker can help you describe the care that someone else would need to cover.
Official sources
“We have not had a break since diagnosis. Could the respite program pay someone we trust to cover care for a few hours, and could you help us ask for it?”
Why I’m asking: I want to understand whether someone can cover care so we have time to rest.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Call and ask; there is no income test to worry about.
Your social worker
The oncology social worker can make the call with you.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- South Dakota Department of Human Services
- Ask the agency
- “My child has a chronic medical condition and lives at home with us. Can we get respite care, and what does the programme pay?”
How to apply
First step: Call 605-773-3438.
- Call 605-773-3438 and ask what the respite voucher pays and how long approval takes.
- Say that the child has a chronic medical condition and lives at home with family.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Call 605-773-3438.
What to gather
- A short description of the care your child needs
How long: Not published. Ask when you call.
What a yes looks like
Approved respite hours you can use.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask whether the no was the waiver exclusion, and ask the hospital what respite it can arrange instead.
Watch out
- A family already getting waiver services is excluded.
- The voucher amount and the waiting time were not published.
Dates that change this
2026-09-11: The voucher amount and the processing time were not published. Call 605-773-3438 and ask what the programme pays and how long it takes. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Paid respite with no income limit, for a child with a chronic medical condition at home.
Covers: Paid cover so the family carer can have a break
Legal protection: No income limit
What it costs the family: Not published. Ask when you call.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Medical
- a chronic medical condition in a child is a listed eligibility category
- Income
- no income limit
- Residency
- the person must be living in a family member's home
- Exclusions
- someone eligible for family support waiver services is not eligible for this respite
Decisions this site cannot make: Department of Human Services respite programme decision
Expect friction on: The voucher amount and how long it takes were not published
The trap: This is respite outside the waiver system. If a family is already getting waiver services, the directory says they are not eligible for this one.
Where I read this
- Respite Care Program — South Dakota Department of Human Services, Dakota at Home, read September 10, 2026