South Dakota Focus on the Child (Season 29)

The Department of Health is asking South Dakota residents to participate in a survey to evaluate health-related needs across the state.

A bill requesting funding for a child care study in South Dakota has died on the Senate floor. But that study will still take place thanks to support from the Department of Social Services.

While the legislature works to address teacher pay, some programs work to find future teachers among South Dakota's current high school students.

While the Legislature works to address teacher pay, groups like Educators Rising tap current students to consider a future career in education.

The child care crisis continues, and some advocates are looking to lawmakers for some kind of solution. While legislative leaders agree child care access is a workforce issue, they struggle with what can be done about it.

Legislative leaders agree that the ongoing child care crisis in South Dakota represents a significant workforce problem. Advocates are worried they lack a sense of urgency.

The Department of Social Services is changing payment policies in hopes that more daycare providers will accept children who receive government assistance.

New technologies give researchers details on when parts of the brain develop: "The first year of life and then the first five years are really what we would refer to as very critical time periods for brain development."

Brain science is backing what early childhood educators have known for years: the earliest years of a child's life can have lifelong impacts on learning.

Early Learner South Dakota and South Dakota Afterschool Network seek input on the childcare crisis. This comes after the announcement of the closure of several Apple Tree Childcare Centers in Sioux Falls.