One year after the Annandale Intensive Residential Treatment facility closed, leaving a vacant building in the Annandale Business Park, that building is set to reopen later this fall as a residential treatment facility for adolescent girls.
Annandale City Council members approved a conditional use permit for the Village Ranch organization of Cokato during a special meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 30. If all goes according to plan, the facility will open for residents around Nov. 1.
Village Ranch, which has residential sites serving boys in Cokato, Hutchinson and Rochester, intends to temporarily house up to 16 girls ages 12-18 at the Annandale site. The non-profit organization was established in 1988 by a group of Christian businessmen and community leaders who aimed to meet the needs of adolescents and their families, and CEO Scott Bakeberg said that the Annandale expansion will help advance that mission.
"There is definitely a void in out-of-home placements for girls right now in the state of Minnesota," he said. "There are countless boys’ homes, and there are about 10 girls’ homes."
The mission has evolved over time, as the organization was originally licensed for a 10-bed facility in Cokato.
"Back in ’88 we were more of an orphanage than anything," said Bakeberg.
Now there is more of a focus on treatment for behavioral issues. Village Ranch has 34 beds for boys age 12-18 in Cokato. Hutchinson serves 12 individuals with no families, and the Rochester facility has 12 beds for a range of needs.
Bakeberg said the organization focuses on providing a continuum of care, from residential facilities to about 30 foster homes around the state. There is also an out-patient treatment program.
Residents and services
In Annandale, where the facility will be licensed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, residents who are placed by the county will likely be dealing with behavioral or emotional issues.
The "vast majority" of girls will have experienced some sort of violence or trauma, or had issues related to poverty, race or ethnicity, and gender.
"There is a lot of trauma that has happened in these girls’ lives that has never been addressed," said Bakeberg. "Sometimes you just have to remove the kid from the craziness in the home."
Treatment will be provided for conditions like depression and anxiety, bipolar and mood disorders, mild chemical dependency, Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Potential residents will be screened, and those with aggressive behavior or significant mental health problems will not be included.
Therapy with a licensed professional will include individual, group and family sessions. Each individual will have a treatment plan that they must work on during their stay, which is typically between three months and one year. Life skills, chemical dependency counseling, peer accountability groups, optional religious education and opportunities for community service are also included in the treatment services.
School on site
Regular education services will be provided at the Annandale site by the Meeker and Wright Special Education Cooperative. The building has been remodeled to include two classrooms.
"They do all the onsite school for our programs. We basically give them the space and they do all the education, all the licensing, they hire all the staff, they do all the curriculum," said Bakeberg.
Councilor Shelly Jonas asked if students might be included other than the 16 living in Annandale. Bakeberg said that was up to MAWSECO, but depending on how things went Village Ranch might eventually return to the council seeking a building permit to construct a larger school outside the treatment building.
Asked if keeping the children in treatment separate from the school population at large has been a successful strategy, Bakeberg said it has.
"Ninety percent of their problems are when the boys or girls go to school," he said. "Our theory is to get them out of that environment for a while to let them focus on their own personal issues, provide them the education they need to continue on in life … and then move them on from there."
Security and staffing
The Annandale building will not be a locked facility, but those living there will be closely watched by trained staff members. Each window and exterior door will have an alarm so that no one can leave without the staff being aware of it.
"They live with us 24-7. They don’t get to come and go as they please. They don’t get to walk around outside smoking or go to town and do whatever they want to do. It’s very supervised by our staff," said Bakeberg.
The planning commission recommended that a fence or some type of screening be put in place on the south side of the property next to the food shelf. Bakeberg said the organization typically tries to avoid chain link fencing and would look at installing a privacy fence that doesn’t create an impression of confinement.
As for staffing, six individuals are hired for the facility so far. Three or four will be at the facility at any given time, with at least two working overnight shifts. At least one staff member will be awake to monitor the residents 24 hours a day.
Jonas noted that Village Ranch’s application included a letter of recommendation from the Hutchinson police chief, and asked what kind of extra service might be required from Annandale’s police department.
"We’re going to have calls, there’s no doubt about it," Bakeberg said.
He added, however, that the organization has an excellent relationship with the police in Hutchinson and the Wright County Sheriff’s Office, which maintains an office at the Cokato facility because of its location on the southwest edge of the county. Bakeberg said he has spoken with Annandale Police Chief Jeff Herr and that communication regarding incidents will be key.
Letters of recommendation for the group that were included with the application came from the Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce, the Cokato Corn Carnival, the Winstock Country Music Festival and the Clearwater Rodeo. In each case, residents at Village Ranch’s facilities had provided service work that helped the organization or event.
Reception
After asking questions and clarifying that city staff had no additional concerns, council members voiced support for the venture.
"What a great facility for this," said Mayor Dwight "Dewey" Gunnarson.
Bakeberg said Village Ranch had actually looked at purchasing the 6,800-square foot building on its 1.9-acre lot when it first went on the market, but was otherwise engaged with its expansion to Rochester at the time.
"It’s a beautiful facility. It’s in a great location," Bakeberg said. "I just bought a lot to build a house in Annandale, so I like this area too. We’re really excited about it."
While the organization was "a little nervous" about the initial capital investment in the property, Bakeberg said that the group’s mission comes first.
"It’s really nice to work for this company because it’s never about money. Obviously we have to be fiscally sound and we can’t just throw money out the window, but it’s more about how we can help kids," he said. "Even if we spend a little more than we thought we should have, hopefully it works out and we just do what’s right for kids."