✳️ Why This Is Needed

South Dakota’s elders aren’t just grandparents and veterans—they’re survivors, builders, and keepers of this land’s memory.

But we’re failing them.

Right now, too many of our seniors are living in silence.

Trapped in unsafe housing

Abused or neglected in care homes

Isolated by broken transportation, understaffed clinics, and bureaucracy

Priced out of their own prescriptions and ignored by systems they built

Some are eating once a day to afford insulin.
Some haven’t had a visitor in weeks.
And some are dying not from disease—but from disconnection.

We don’t have an aging population problem. We have an elder abandonment problem.

And it stops here.

🌱 What We Could Have

We could build a South Dakota where no elder is invisible, and no legacy is discarded.

We could guarantee our seniors:

Safe homes

Affordable medicine

Local care

And the dignity of being seen, heard, and honored

We could train a new generation of caregivers—not as corporate workers—but as community guardians.

We could create mobile health teams, phone check-ins, faith-based outreach, and state-funded protection against financial abuse and medical neglect.

We could create a Senior Bill of Rights that makes it clear:
We don’t throw away the people who gave us everything.

🛠 How We Achieve It

Pass a South Dakota Elder Bill of Rights guaranteeing:

Safe, inspected housing

Access to medicine, food, transportation, and companionship

Freedom from abuse, fraud, and neglect—whether by caregiver, institution, or government

Create Elder Justice Units in each county to investigate and respond to:

Financial exploitation

Physical or emotional abuse

Unreported neglect in private or institutional care settings

Launch Mobile Elder Healthcare Teams—clinics on wheels for rural, tribal, and housebound elders, staffed by nurses and social workers

Offer Senior Safety Grants to help elders:

Fix or retrofit homes

Access transportation

Secure legal and financial protections

Expand Meals-on-Wheels, elder phone outreach programs, and community volunteer initiatives to fight loneliness and suicide

Require all long-term care staff to be certified in elder trauma, dementia care, and death-with-dignity principles

Enact criminal penalties and civil recovery laws for individuals or businesses who knowingly exploit or neglect elders under their care

Ensure no elder is discharged from a hospital without a safe place to go and a contact to follow up

South Dakota will become the safest state in the nation to grow old. Because in this state, if you made the path for us—we’re going to walk it with you.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This Act shall be known as the “Elder Justice and Dignity Act of South Dakota.”

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS

The Legislature of South Dakota finds:

1. That the elderly are entitled to protection, dignity, and meaningful support in their later years.
   
2. That the commercial elder care industry has, in many cases, prioritized profit over safety—leaving seniors neglected, overmedicated, or isolated in substandard conditions.
   
3. That multistate retirement corporations have extracted enormous wealth from residents and taxpayers while providing minimal direct care and supervision.
   
4. That the average South Dakotan lacks the time, money, and structural support to care for aging family members at home—due to overwork, poor leave policies, and economic strain.
   
5. That South Dakota must lead with bold, community-rooted care solutions that center human dignity, not institutional convenience.
   

SECTION 3. SENIOR BILL OF RIGHTS

All elders age 65 and older residing in South Dakota shall be guaranteed the following rights:

1. To live in safe, sanitary, and adequately staffed housing
   
2. To access medical care, food, and transportation regardless of income
   
3. To be free from abuse, neglect, or chemical restraint
   
4. To receive visitation and meaningful social interaction
   
5. To control their financial, legal, and personal decisions unless proven incapacitated by a court
   
6. To receive end-of-life care with dignity, without coercion toward unwanted medical interventions
   

SECTION 4. CREATION OF COUNTY ELDER JUSTICE UNITS

(1) Each county shall establish a publicly funded Elder Justice Unit (EJU), empowered to:

• Investigate reports of elder abuse, fraud, or neglect
  
• Conduct surprise inspections of elder care facilities
  
• Assist families in navigating legal guardianship or estate protections
  
• Coordinate elder wellness checks with local law enforcement or health workers
  

(2) The EJU shall report annually to the State Attorney General and the Department of Health.

SECTION 5. CORPORATE LONG-TERM CARE ACCOUNTABILITY

(1) All private elder care corporations with more than 50 residents across South Dakota must:

• Publish public audits of staffing ratios, incident reports, and medication usage
  
• Maintain minimum caregiver-to-resident ratios, adjusted for medical acuity
  
• Undergo quarterly unannounced inspections by the Department of Health
  
• Submit annual financial disclosures including executive compensation
  

(2) The Department of Health shall have authority to:

• Fine or revoke licensure for corporations found to engage in systemic neglect or fraudulent billing
  
• Seize assets of corporate facilities proven to have caused elder deaths or injuries due to negligence
  
• Ban the expansion or operation of entities with repeated violations
  

SECTION 6. COMMUNITY CARE & FAMILY SUPPORT INITIATIVES

(1) The Department of Human Services shall create a Family Caregiver Wage Replacement Grant for working adults who leave or reduce employment to care for aging family members.

(2) Employers with more than 20 employees shall provide:

• At least 2 weeks of paid eldercare leave per year, not to be deducted from sick or vacation time
  
• Optional job protection for up to 6 months of reduced work hours with state-provided wage replacement for qualified caregivers
  

(3) The State shall offer Small Home Conversion Grants for citizens wishing to retrofit homes to care for aging relatives in a safe, supported environment.

SECTION 7. MOBILE CARE AND VOLUNTEER OUTREACH

(1) The State shall deploy Mobile Elder Care Teams, equipped for:

• Medical checkups
  
• Mental health and grief support
  
• Medication delivery
  
• Home safety evaluations
  

(2) Community organizations may apply for Senior Dignity Outreach Grants to fund:

• Phone call and check-in programs
  
• Home visit programs for isolated elders
  
• Social and intergenerational gatherings
  
• Transportation networks for elders without vehicles
  

SECTION 8. CRIMINAL AND CIVIL PENALTIES

(1) Elder care corporations or individual caregivers found guilty of neglect, abuse, or exploitation may face:

• Civil penalties up to $250,000 per violation
  
• Revocation of all South Dakota operating licenses
  
• Criminal prosecution for reckless endangerment or homicide, depending on harm caused
  

(2) Financial institutions and guardians found to have stolen, coerced, or mismanaged elder funds may be prosecuted under felony elder exploitation laws.

SECTION 9. SEVERABILITY

If any section of this Act is deemed invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain in full effect.

SECTION 10. EFFECTIVE DATE

This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2026, with corporate compliance reporting beginning no later than July 1, 2026.

We’re not going to build more facilities that feed shareholders. We’re going to build communities that feed the soul. In South Dakota, growing old won’t mean being forgotten—it’ll mean being honored.