RAPID CITY - The president of a South Dakota tribe suing the state's Department of Social Services says Native American children suffer trauma and depression when they are wrongly removed from their homes.

Oglala Sioux President Bryan Brewer says the state has for years removed Indian and non-Indian children from their family and placed them in foster care without producing evidence and a meaningful hearing.

Brewer's statements came after the Oglala Sioux and Rosebud Sioux Tribes filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Department of Social Services. The lawsuit alleges that South Dakota does not hold proper hearings in neglect and abuse cases once a child is removed from a home.

A representative from the Department of Social Services says she has not seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment.

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