About Our Logo

The Collaborative Circle Logo was inspired by a design created by Breanna Mattson. Breanna won a contest sponsored by the Collaborative Circle in 2007. At the time, Breanna was a high school senior from Hayti, SD. She plans on double majoring in graphic design and music at Northern State University, the Art Institute of Colorado, or Northwestern College. Breanna was adopted from South Dakota.

The Collaborative Circle logo is inspired by the Medicine Wheel, a sacred symbol used by Plains tribes to represent all knowledge in the universe. The circle represents the sacred outer boundary of the Earth often referred to as the Sun Dance Circle or Sacred Hoop. It represents the continuous pattern of ongoing life and death. The crossing of the two lines indicates the center of the Earth where one stands when praying. The eagle feather is a sign of Wankan Tanka’s- the great spirit’s- power over everything.

The title of the Collaborative Circle is represented in Lakota and English, as a symbol of the cooperation infused in the Collaborative Circle work. The words in the center represent the reason this group was established, for the well being of all our children in South Dakota, and as a reminder that all Lakota children are innately sacred and deserving of our highest level of protection and respect.

Mission Statement

The Native children and families of South Dakota who come into the child protection system need and deserve better results in the areas of safety, stability, and well-being. Therefore, we have come together—families, providers, Tribes, State and local agencies, and other community stakeholders—to create a formal Collaborative dedicated to achieving better outcomes. To ensure that these results can be achieved, each member commits to functional, trusting, working relationships with each other and with other community stakeholders, and to constantly strive to improve those relationships.

As we work together for South Dakota’s Native children and families, we strive to protect those children through a system that:

· matches them with their culture;

· empowers families—birth, kinship, foster, adoptive—to create safe and nurturing homes;

· provides family preservation services to prevent children and families from needing child protection services; and

· helps children and families who do come into the system leave as soon as possible, having achieved the goals they set for themselves by providing individualized and appropriate services, including aftercare services.

KINSHIP GUIDE created by the Collaborative Circle to help relatives caring for family members.

NATIVE FOSTER PARENT RECRUITMENT COMMERCIAL

Collaborative Circle Brochure created by the Collaborative Circle to help inform you of our mission.