Assisted Living Facilities in South Dakota

A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities in South Dakota

What they're called

Official name: Assisted Living Centers

Common name: Assisted living facilities

To compare assisted living to board and care, skilled nursing, and other long-term residential care communities, see Residential Care Options: How to Decide.

What they offer

• Individual or shared (up to two persons) living units (from single rooms to multiroom apartments), with some cooking facilities and a separate bathroom for each unit
• All meals, usually in a common dining area
• General supervision
• Administration of or assistance with medications
• Personal care services, including limited hands-on assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, bathing, and dressing
• Social and exercise activities

Note: Some facilities also offer respite care and other special services.

What they cost

Median monthly fees: $2,750 (higher for residents requiring memory care)

State of South Dakota requirements

• Assisted Living Centers must facilitate resident access to physicians.
• Residents may contract with outside agencies and individuals to provide care not provided by the facility but must abide by facility policies regarding outside assistance.
• Assisted Living Centers may not admit or retain residents who require more than intermittent nursing or therapy services.
• If resident requires administration of medications, a licensed nurse must review the resident's care and condition weekly.

State of South Dakota oversight

The South Dakota Department of Health, Office of Health Care Facilities Licensure and Certification (605-773-3356) oversees community residential care facilities.

How to resolve problems or offer feedback

• Contact the South Dakota long-term care ombudsman program or call the program's central office at 866-854-5465; this is a free service to help residents informally resolve problems with a facility.
• To register a complaint about a facility, you can contact South Dakota's Office of Health Care Facilities Licensure and Certification or phone 800-738-2301.
• Rate and review assisted living facilities.

How to pay for assisted living in South Dakota

• Most assisted living is paid for privately by the resident and/or his or her family.
• For Medicaid-eligible low-income residents whose condition qualifies them for nursing home care, the state's home and community-based services waiver program pays part of the monthly fees for personal care services provided in participating facilities.
• Low-income veterans or surviving spouses of veterans may be eligible for Aid and Attendance or other payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which can help pay for assisted living.
• Some assisted living facilities offer sliding scale fees, making a higher level of care available to families that might not otherwise be able to afford it. Be sure to ask -- or ask a geriatric care manager in the area if he or she knows which facilities offer sliding scale fees.

Help finding and choosing a facility

• Hire a geriatric care manager (most have extensive local knowledge about assisted living facilities in a particular geographic area, including space availability, resident needs assessments, sliding scale fees, and resident satisfaction). To find a geriatric care manager, see Caring.com's Senior Living Directory.
• For details about assisted living facilities in each of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, see A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities.