Home On The Range is a therapeutic, working ranch located in western North Dakota. The facility provides education, therapy, spiritual guidance, and recreational and work activities.
Home On The Range was founded in 1949. It is licensed to care for 36 boys and girls, ages 12 – 19.
Most of the youth at Home On The Range 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 the children have experienced trauma most people can’t imagine. The boys and girls may 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, the facility works hard to convince them to change.
The goal 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.
