Our programs have four primary domains we focus on developing with our youth: education, spirituality, community living, and therapy. We focus on developing and walking our kids through learning new life-skills, a spiritual journey, a realistic education plan, therapy path leading to improved regulation and life opportunities. We also provide our youth a number of work and recreational opportunities. A unique and specific program is created for each child. It is our goal to prepare our youth to return to the community with improved skills and connections.
Home On The Range fully embraces the philosophy of Trauma Informed Care. A key aspect of a Trauma Informed approach is what happened to you is far more important than what’s wrong with you. This provides a whole new lens when looking at dealing with youth who have experienced complex trauma. We believe behaviors the youth exhibit are adaptive and exist for a reason. We understand that while the youth have most often been injured or stunted in relationships, collaborative relationships with our youth will be the primary agent of change for them.
Home On The Range residents attend public school. The residents benefit from the scholastic programs, social interaction and involvement in extracurricular activities. Academic support and tutoring are available to all residents. Home On The Range also has two campus classrooms, one for boys and one for girls. This unique option allows students to have more individual attention, and offers increased structure for youth with limited success in school, have difficulty self-regulating, or those who are behind in their education. HOTR is a G.E.D. testing site allowing youth to complete their education, or use it as a credit recovery program. Meaning for example, if a youth takes the math G.E.D. test and passes, he/she could return to the community and all math credits would be complete.
Why Should Organizations Support This Project?
All of our youth have used dysfunctional coping skills to manage problems in the past. In many cases, these coping skills have been survival skills. Regardless of how dysfunctional the behavior has been, it is difficult to get youth to learn more functional behavior if that dysfunctional behavior has, quite literally, kept them alive.
All of our children have experienced trauma most of us couldn’t imagine. They have been sexually abused, physically and emotionally abused, and moved from place to place. If running away or fighting or stealing has helped these children survive, we have to work quite hard to convince them to change. Children whose every waking moment is consumed with thoughts of staying safe have little time or energy left for learning.
Our task is to resolve these problems, teach appropriate coping skills, heal trauma and do it in a matter of months. Once the children have completed their program at Home On The Range, they return to their communities and families. They become young adults and begin to plan their future. That future may be finishing high school and attending college, beginning a career, or starting a family of their own – but all of them will hope to become productive and responsible citizens in communities and towns across the state of North Dakota and elsewhere.