The problem is worse still for single parents. Not surprisingly, school counselors report a connection between periods of general economic stress and increases in adult substance abuse and cases of child abuse and neglect. Poverty is profound in and around the State's reservations. In 1994, the U.S. Census Bureau rated Shannon County as the Nation's most impoverished. Todd County, also in western South Dakota, is the Nation's fourth poorest county.
Alcohol is the drug of choice in terms of drug abuse.
Some counties estimate 95 percent of youth are affected by alcoholism. Lack of social activities means that adults sometimes deliberately ignore adolescent group drinking, says one school counselor. It was another property tax initiative, in 1978, that led to the formation of school cooperatives in South Dakota. Education leaders realized that school district cooperatives would enable districts to pool resources, which would be vital should school revenues fall and beneficial if they remained the same. Cooperatives were seen to be especially significant to the special education field.