About Sotera Youth & Family Services Collaborative

Sotera Youth & Family Services Collaborative is a community-based nonprofit in Pierre, South Dakota, working to strengthen families impacted by abuse, neglect, foster care involvement, family separation, and hardship.

Since launching in 2021, Sotera has grown from a family-led vision into a trusted local resource for supervised visitation, foster and kinship family support, practical child and caregiver resources, and community partnerships that help families stay connected, supported, and safe.

Who We Are

Sotera Youth & Family Services Collaborative was founded in 2021 by a family with deep personal and professional experience in foster care, child welfare, and community service.

After more than 25 years as a foster parent, Laura Clark saw firsthand how difficult it can be for families in Central South Dakota to access consistent, local support. Together with her children, Katie Big Eagle and Kody Clark, Sotera was created to help fill those gaps through practical, relationship-based services for children, parents, caregivers, and partner agencies.

The name Sotera is inspired by “Soteria,” a Greek word meaning safety, deliverance, and preservation from harm. That meaning continues to guide our work today.

Our mission is to provide safe, supportive, and community-centered services that help children and families build stability, connection, and hope.

Our Impact

Sotera’s work is rooted in a simple belief: families do better when support is close to home, easy to access, and built around real community relationships.

Since opening our Family Visitation Center in June 2023, Sotera has scheduled more than 1,100 supervised visits for families in Central South Dakota. Our center gives children a safe, structured place to maintain family connections while courts, DSS, and caregivers work toward long-term stability.

In 2025, Sotera served 30 families and 49 children through supervised visitation services, completing 276 visits. We also continued to support foster, kinship, and adoptive families through our Foster Closet, family support kits, caregiver appreciation efforts, community events, and partner referrals.

What We Do

Sotera provides practical, family-centered support through:

• Safe supervised visitation and exchanges for children and families.

• Support for foster, kinship, and adoptive caregivers.

• A Foster Closet with clothing, baby items, hygiene supplies, and essential family resources.

• Comfort cases and emergency support items for children entering care or experiencing transition.

• Community partnerships that connect families with local professionals, services, and encouragement.

• Awareness events and family-centered outreach that help the broader community understand and support children and caregivers.

Building a Stronger System of Support

Sotera is helping create a stronger, more coordinated support system for children and families in rural South Dakota.

Our work reduces barriers, strengthens family connections, supports caregiver stability, and gives local courts and agencies a trusted community partner. As referrals continue to grow, funding support allows us to expand capacity, increase visit availability, maintain safe and trauma-informed services, and reach more families when they need support most.

Together, we are building a community where children are safe, families are supported, and no one has to navigate hardship alone.