MINOT — Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch started in 1952 near Mapleton as a place for young boys who grew up with no father from World War II. Around the late 60s, the ranch moved to Minot.
Tammy Noteboom, the vice president of communications for Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, says that the problems of the young people has changed since then.
“We have two levels of care; Psychiatric Residential Treatment facility, and that’s the highest level of care in North Dakota for kids outside of the hospital, and then our Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP), that level of service, most of the kids are in the foster care system,” explained Noteboom. “We have nurses, a therapist, psychiatrist, psychologist, occupational therapist, a school. So we really wrap them in all of the care they need."
Noteboom says that many of the children they take in have been through unimaginable situations.
“It’s really helping them to find the tools to cope with the fear and the anger and the sadness, and give them a place to feel safe. A lot of times people will say ‘oh, that’s where the bad kids go,’ and while they do have difficult behaviors, which is what brings them to us, the behaviors… they’re surviving. They act out and push people away, because that’s the only way they know how to do so that they won’t get hurt again. So they’re pretty amazing kids when you think about what they’ve been through,” Noteboom said.
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch also aids in physical care as well. “Many times, they’re way behind, like they haven’t been to the doctor or the dentist or they need glasses. Our focus is mental health, but it’s all tied together. You can’t just put someone in therapy and ignore all the rest because every piece is important and they work together,” Noteboom described.
According to Noteboom, the average “recovery” rate is about 5-6 months. “That’s down a lot from what it was 10 years ago. A lot of that is because we aren’t teaching kids to be really good in treatment, we’re teaching them to be really good at home and in the community. I would say they’re not recovered; they’re just stabilized, and they have some tools to manage.”
Around one third of the kids have parents who are actively involved, one third are in foster care, and another third that have no place to go, according to Noteboom. “We don’t get to decide where they go. It’s up to other people to figure that part out, but we help in any way we can.”
The ranch also has after care programs to help the kids after they have left.
Overall, the organization as a whole helps around 350 children a year, including those who come to the ranch only during the day for school.
Its Outpatient Program, which includes help for adults, serves around 1700 individuals a year. “We see children and adults, but really our expertise is for kids.”
Noteboom, who has been working for Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch since 2015, said the need for these types of services has grown. “It is definitely not getting better. The need has grown, and the kids who are coming to us have more severe issues. We see it playing out in the news, but it’s true that COVID was really hard on kids.”
Noteboom added that many of the children in the QRTP were lost in the system during that time, because many of them were referred to by the schools. “We did a little bit of online with our Outpatient Program. The work with the kids, all of that was in person. For the most part we’ve been able to keep kids in school, which is really important.”
“Donations at our thrift stores is always appreciated, because they help fund our programs, and I would also say prayer. We rely on the prayers of our friends, to help support our kids and our staff and our work,” said Noteboom.
Many of the programs offered by the ranch are purely through donations, including their Horse Program and Spiritual Life Program.
“We’re a Christ-based agency,” Noteboom expressed. “That is not covered by any of the funding that we receive. We do get funding for educating the students, but we do extra, and personalize it.”
Noteboom said that 35% of the services they provide come from donors.
The ranch does receive horse donations, though monetary donations are preferred, according to Noteboom, to ensure the right horse for the right child. “Right now, we need about five good horses, because our herd is aging. So if we get funding then we can find some horses and add them to our herd.”
Noteboom explained how horses are a huge aid in mental health. “There’s something about the motion that can be very calming. And there’s also, it sounds really silly, but building relationships. The kids come in, and they learn that if they don’t be calm and gentle, the horse leaps, and so they have to learn how to regulate themselves. And then they take care of it.”
Noteboom described an incident where a child became anxious on a horse after the therapist brought up something that had happened the night before, and the horse stopped. “And [the therapist] said, ‘Oh, I think the horse is feeling that maybe you tensed up when I brought that up.’ The horse started moving again, and then [the child] was able to talk about what happened, because he was on the horse, and he didn’t have to look at her.”
More information about Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch and how to donate can be found on its website.
