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• "To put those children at risk and leave them in the home to me is totally wrong," said Fuller, 64. "I'd rather see them removed and get those issues resolved and then return them as quickly as possible."
• Fuller said the state sets a limit of six children per home -- including the foster parents' biological children -- and no more than two children can be under the age of two.
• She also said that children sometimes have to stay in foster care for months, even years, because it can take that long for parents to resolve problems with substance abuse or other issues.
• The average South Dakota child stays in foster care for just under 14 months,

according to state officials.
• The Division of Child Protection recently reported the number of children in foster care dropped from 1,704 in 2005 to 1,404 in 2011. The 17 percent drop is partly due to expanded support for troubled families and more placements with extended family members, Wieseler said.
• Wexler said South Dakota should pay attention to a three-part National Public Radio series that aired last year, which said South Dakota has routinely broken the Indian Child Welfare Act and disrupted the lives of Native American families. Federal law requires that Native American children removed from their homes be placed with relatives or put in foster care with other Native American families, except in unusual circumstances.
• The NPR report said 90 percent of the Native American children removed from their homes in South Dakota each year are sent to foster care in non-Indian homes or group homes. It also reported that Native American children are placed in the foster care system at a disproportionate rate -- only 15 percent of children in South Dakota are Native American, but half the children in foster care are Native American.
• State officials have criticized the NPR report as inaccurate, unfair and biased.
• They have said that while a disproportionate number of Native American children are in the child welfare system, that's because the state receives more referrals for alleged abuse and neglect involving Native American children. State officials also said they use all available Native American foster homes.
• Wieseler said the state first tries to place children with relatives. If that isn't possible, officials look for foster homes in a child's community to maintain contract with family members, friends and schools, she said.
• "We don't remove children. That's a court function. That's a law enforcement

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