The Children’s Home Society in Sioux Falls received national recognition for their work with the community’s youth.
The US Children’s Bureau, part of the larger Department of Health and Human Services, named the Children’s Home of South Dakota and CEO Michelle Lavallee the recipient of the 2023 Champion Award.
The organization helps families that are impacted by domestic abuse.
Lavallee pointed to their values as a key factor in the success of Children’s Home.
“We are building a strong culture, and an environment which best serves the children and families in our care," Lavallee said. "In a time when employers across the nation are struggling to retain talent, our leadership team and I have developed a national model for how to create a workforce which fosters professional growth, personal respect, and leads to positive impacts on the lives of others.”
Several top state leaders were on hand at Wednesday's award ceremony. Gov. Kristi Noem said recognition like this for CHS is reflective of her priorities.
“It impacts a lot of what I do when it comes to decision making and policy making, and also what we focus our time and attention on here in South Dakota," Noem said. "We’ve made adoption and foster care and taking care of those who interact with people on casework basis a priority and making sure that all of you who are out there in these positions serving people know that you’re appreciated.”
Sen. John Thune commended CHS for how it supports its employees.
“One of the issues here that we’re celebrating CHS for is the things that they’re doing to support the workforce, to make this an attractive place to work," Thune said. "That’s a number one issue, finding workers, how to get workers and retain workers. The things that you’ve implemented here are a great example and a great role model.”
At the end of her speech, Lavallee promised to share the organizations best practices, and reaffirmed the Children’s Home mission.