“Great” is not a word I often read in Clinical Case Review notes at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. The kids who come to the Ranch have multiple traumas, behavior, and psychiatric issues, and much to do to heal. More commonly, in Case Review notes, I read “Much Improved,” “Working,” or “Identifying Strengths.” We work very hard to help children heal, develop skills, learn to succeed, and build trusting relationships.…
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Last summer, Rev. Victor Tegtmeier, along with his son and daughter, drove onto the Minot campus of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. Rev. Tegtmeier's wife had recently passed away, and he was taking their two children on a cross-country tour of the places they had lived and served.…
According to Dr. Meryl Willert, Ranch children fall into one of three categories when it comes to religion and spirituality. How we work with them depends on where they are in that spiritual journey.…
Jerome Schneider is a handsome young farmer full of energy and light. He is passionate about farming and ranching and while he doesn't claim to have everything figured out, he is proud of the man he has become. Jerome's life began on a fourth-generation farm in western North Dakota. When his parents separated and divorced shortly after his birth, Jerome was caught in the middle.…
Through your help and God’s love, we also see new lives and new beginnings at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. I think of them as “mini-Easters.” Children have an opportunity to heal from the traumas of their past. They can begin to plot a new future. They can move from surviving to thriving. They can find and become their best selves.…
It is very common for a child at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch to ask staff to brush, braid, or “fix” their hair. Sometimes, a child who can never sit still will quietly pass 30 minutes or more while having their hair brushed. When a child is at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, we follow strict boundaries about appropriate touch. A staff person may side-hug a child, high-five, tuck them in, address minor “owies,” put a comforting hand on a shoulder or hand, brush their hair. This is a place of care and healing. It is also a professional environment for treatment.…
The science backs up what we see every day at the Ranch, that wellness and physical activity are essential to mental health and healing. "We know that physical activity is healthy and that lack of physical activity is a risk factor for depression and anxiety," said Dr. Wayne Martinsen, Psychiatrist and Medical Director at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch.…
We talk a lot about trauma-informed care here at the Ranch—it is a philosophy of care we take very seriously in both our treatment and education environments. But it can be a difficult concept to understand—both for new Ranch employees and for people outside the school and treatment world.…
Sometimes, the best way to tell a story is to use someone else’s words. Below are email excerpts (to maintain confidentiality) from an outpatient therapist who referred a precious, challenging, traumatized boy to treatment at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. The therapist wrote the note to the boy’s treatment team about three weeks after he completed treatment at the Ranch.…
“Hey, it’s Joy Ryan.” That’s the first thing I heard when I walked into my local YMCA to work out on Sunday. People don’t normally yell my name in public places. Working at a non-profit children’s treatment center is not a high-profile job. And at my core, I am not a high-profile type of person.…
“I’m hangry!” she said to her therapist. And the therapist celebrated! So, here’s the rest of the story. First, I’ve raised three kids to adulthood. One thing I learned is that teenagers eat a lot. All the time. They are hungry shortly after a full meal. They are hungry before and after sports, church, and their favorite TV show. They are growing, their bodies are changing, and they are active.…
Have you ever met someone for the very first time and had an immediate aversion to them? The poor person has not even said their name, and you are silently plotting a way to exit? Or, you meet someone, and afterward, you turn to a friend and say, “I don’t think I did anything wrong, but I get the distinct feeling she just doesn’t like me. I don’t know what that’s about.”…
I had a lot of Little Golden Books when I was little. My parents allotted a special, low shelf in the living room for what I called “my library.” I even tried to number them on their skinny spines as I’d seen numbers on the books at the big library. Those books are now in my family room in my mother’s old traveling suitcase. My grandkids love their simple stories and gentle illustrations.…
How would you finish this sentence? When I am happy, I would appreciate it if you… Once children have some time to acclimate and begin to feel comfortable at the Ranch, we sit down with them and complete the “Five Love Languages Profile Quiz” and a worksheet titled, “All About [INSERT NAME].” The worksheet gathers information about the child’s favorite colors and favorite snacks, the three most important things we should know about them, and more.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch has been helping children and families succeed in the name of Christ since 1952. Literally, thousands of really good people have spent all or part of their careers at the Ranch. Whether as teachers or treatment specialists, maintenance people or nurses, Chaplains or accountants, all have witnessed the immense work it takes for the precious children in our care to overcome trauma. It also takes a lot of knowledge about mental health and brain development and the impact of trauma.…
Inspiritus Community Health Foundation (ICHF) granted $32,712.70 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch for the Wildlife Club on its Minot campus. Through the ICHF’s Twice Blessed program, $24,712.70 was raised in addition to the ICHF matching grant of $8,000, to underwrite the entire project.…
In a recent issue of Ranch Voice, the feature article was about group treatment at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. There are lots of solid, evidence-based treatment reasons for doing certain types of therapeutic work in groups. One of those reasons is that group members help hold each other accountable to the truth—here is just one example.…
Sometimes, working at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch can be tough. These kids have endured so much. They have experienced trauma and/or the ravages of mental illness – which is certainly a trauma in itself. They have developed behaviors and coping skills that are not healthy or good for them or others—behaviors and coping skills that have allowed them to survive.…
He was standing in the corner in the hallway of the school, crying really hard, with a Treatment Specialist by his side. I was confused. I had just seen this child in our chapel services at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, and he was amazing. He had practiced with the adult who was leading the music and had played guitar and sang beautifully.…
The Tom and Frances Leach Foundation awarded $5,000 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch to complete safety upgrades at Dakota Memorial School in Bismarck and Minot. The funds will be used to create a safer educational environment for the at-risk children served by the Ranch.…
Erinn Dosch is a great communicator. She writes grants and manages website and social media activity at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. She is a voracious reader, funny and smart, and a “word collector.” You know, she loves a turn of phrase or clever pun. She’s a really good Rancher.…
Deep nasolabial folds are part of my family’s genetic profile. My mom and dad both had prominent ones, as do my siblings. They’re those wrinkles that run from the sides of your nose to the corners of your mouth. I am pretty sure they’ve always been there, but with the march of Father Time, mine are reaching new depths. Not yet Grand Canyon status, but perhaps the Columbia Gorge.…
Many kids come to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch wearing their toughest attitudes and with challenging behaviors. They have worked so hard to survive their trauma and trauma environments that they have lost touch with their own core. They struggle to see their true selves.…
I love Christmas trees. I think they are a bold proclamation that we are celebrating the birth of our Lord. I think of them as a really big Birthday candle! You just can’t hide the fact that you’re celebrating Jesus' birth when you have a 4 or 6 or 8-foot reminder in the middle of your house.…
It is a pretty irrefutable statement that we all communicate differently. We send and receive messages in the context they make sense to us, based on our experiences. I would guess that you, and certainly I, have occasionally had to say, “That’s not at all what I meant. What I was trying to say is….”…