Youth Correctional Center

Brown Cottage is a 16-bed structure housing female juveniles for Detention, Assessment and Treatment.

Hickory Cottage is a 35 bed structure housing male treatment status juveniles. A Mental Health Specialist, a Nurse Practitioner, a dentist office, nurse’s offices and a medical examination room is located on the lower level of Hickory Cottage. An Intensive Outpatient Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program is also located on the lower level of this cottage.

Pine Cottage is a 25-bed structure housing male juveniles. Cottage staff provide a variety of programs including Assessment, Detention, Time Out, and Special Management. Additionally, this cottage houses high risk or high maintenance male juveniles. It also serves as the intake cottage for all new male admissions.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) treatment is a type of psychotherapy — or talk therapy — that utilizes a cognitive-behavioral approach. DBT emphasizes the psychosocial aspects of treatment. The theory behind the approach is that some people are prone to react in a more intense and out-of-the-ordinary manner toward certain emotional situations.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from many different treatment approaches.

Self-Explanatory

The North Dakota Youth Correctional Center (NDYCC) provides Intensive Outpatient Drug and Alcohol Treatment at Level II.1 for qualified juveniles placed at the NDYCC, as well as an aftercare program at Level I.

The current model of substance abuse treatment is Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Substance Abuse or CBI-SA. The CBI-SA model provides a curriculum designed for individuals who are moderate to high risk and moderate to high need in the area of substance abuse. It relies on a cognitive-behavioral approach to teach participants strategies for avoiding substance abuse. The program places a heavy emphasis on skill-building activities to assist with cognitive, social, emotional and coping skills development.

It is a 10 to 12 week cognitive behavioral intervention that covers Seven Modules: Optional Pre-treatment Sessions, Motivational Engagements, Cognitive Restructuring, Emotional Regulation, Social Skill Development, Problem Solving Skill Development, and Relapse Prevention. The curriculum is designed for juveniles to receive 42 lessons, as well as numerous Advanced Practice sessions to continue implementing skills.

The North Dakota Youth Correctional Center’s Sexual Offender Pre-Treatment Program works with juveniles who have been adjudicated with a sexual offense and are court ordered for treatment. The juveniles receive pre-treatment programming with a certified NDYCC case manager to prepare them for more intensive therapy upon release. The Sexual Offender Pre-Treatment Program does not have a specific timeframe for completion, as it is tailored to focusing on each juvenile’s needs. Pre-Treatment programming focuses on the following areas, but are not limited to: Psycho-education; Relationships/Boundaries; Moral; Values and Core Beliefs; Offense Cycle; Cognitive Distortions; Empathy; Creating a Safety Plan; and the importance to being committed to their treatment.

SPARCS is a group intervention that was specifically designed to address the needs of chronically traumatized adolescents who may still be living with ongoing stress and are experiencing problems in several areas of functioning. These areas include difficulties with affect regulation and impulsivity, self-perception, relationships, somatization, dissociation, numbing and avoidance, and struggles with their own purpose and meaning in life as well as worldviews that make it difficult for them to see a future for themselves. Overall goals of the program are to help teens cope more effectively in the moment, enhance self-efficacy, connect with others and establish supportive relationships, cultivate awareness, and create meaning.

PNF is a state-of-the-art resource including 100 one-hour lessons organized into five 20-session modules. These intensive interventions are based on cognitive-behavioral (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), and social learning concepts. They are designed to reduce resistance to behavioral change and decrease anti-social behaviors, including gang activity, while increasing linkage to protective factors and pro-social elements.

These lessons help participants:

• Develop emotional intelligence and empathy.
• Identify specific protective factors, including a safety net of supportive people and programs.
• Master new thinking (CBT) and problem-solving skills.
• Develop coping skills and impulse control.
• Successfully reduce aggression and violence.
• Examine their choices and options about continuing gang activity.
• Prepare for a more successful future, including developing specific action plans – along with confidence and competence – to avoid their highest risk factors (people, places, things, and situations).

TF-CBT is a clinic-based, individual treatment that involves individual sessions with the child and parent as well as joint parent-child sessions. The goal of TF-CBT is to help address the biopsychosocial needs of children, with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or other problems related to traumatic life experiences, and possibly their parents or primary caregivers. TF-CBT is a model of psychotherapy that combines trauma-sensitive interventions with cognitive behavioral therapy. Children and parents are provided knowledge and skills related to processing the trauma; managing distressing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; and enhancing safety, parenting skills, and family communication.

The VIP group uses education and application to assist juveniles in identifying, understanding and becoming sensitive to the feelings and thoughts of others. This program is aimed at fostering empathy among juveniles in hope of preventing, offending or re-offending. It focuses on juveniles’ understanding of the harm their actions have caused to others and taking responsibility to repair the harm. The Victim Impact Program examines the impact of property crimes such as burglary and vandalism, as well as personal crimes, such as assault and disorderly conduct. Juveniles learn how each crime affects the lives of their victims. Juveniles also learn about substance abuse and the correlation between the use of alcohol and drugs and crime.

The North Dakota Youth Correctional Center offers education to all individuals who are eligible for schooling. All educational offerings are based on the individual’s own needs. This unique environment of small class sizes and more one-on-one opportunities can be very effective for the NDYCC students. The offerings are diverse and rich in variety. The school is accredited by the Department of Public Instruction and AdvancED. The students have the opportunity to participate in the following educational environments:

• Adult Basic Education Program working toward General Education Development (GED)
• Basic Skills Training
• Career and Technical Educational Courses
• Core Subject Areas
• Elective Courses
• Junior High and High School Courses
• See Our Current Course Catalog in .pdf format. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to view the catalog.

Educational Goals for School Improvement:

All Marmot High School Students will increase their educational functioning level by a .25 Grade Level equivalency.

All Marmot High School students will participate in home-base programming.

The North Dakota Youth Correctional Center provides a full time school career counselor who meets individually and in small groups with all students. During these working sessions, students have the chance to explore interests as well as build a resume and resources to take with them upon leaving our facility.

• Career Plan
• College Related Services
  • FAFSA (Financial Aid Applications)
  • Scholarships
  • College Applications
• Cover Letters
• Interests Inventory
• Interview Practice
• Resumes
• Testing Opportunities
  • ACT
  • ASVAB

The North Dakota Youth Correctional Center Library is self-contained and features inter-library loan with access to over one million records throughout the state and nation. We are a member of the EduTech consortia and access additional libraries through ODIN. The library contains approximately 3500 volumes, 40 periodicals, 6 daily and 2 weekly newspapers, and a small computer lab. Students use the library for extra class periods, to find information, to read for pleasure, and to use the computers. They may check out books and videos to take to their cottage.

Orientation Program

Orientation is a requirement for all new students in their first week on campus. It familiarizes students to the expectations and procedures of the school at the NDYCC. It also gives students the opportunity to reflect on their current situation as well as examine their educational program. The final element of orientation is a school tour to better transition the students smoothly into their first day of school.

Treatment teams meet monthly. A team consisting of the student’s case manager and two teachers meets with the students to discuss school progress, cottage progress, short term goals, long term goals, and personal development plans. In preparation for this meeting, all educators grade the students in the areas provided below. The cottage staff members also go through a series of grading criteria.

Education Grading:	Cottage Grading Scale:
Achievement:
4 – A 94%-100%	1 – Needs Improvement
3 – B 87%-93%	2 – Average
2 – C 80%-86%	3 –Good
1 – D 75%-79%	4 –Excellent

 

 

Education Categories of Grading:

 

• Effort
• Attitude
• Amount of Production
• Conduct/Behavior
• Relationship to Teacher
• Relationship to Students

 

Cottage Categories of Grading:

 

• Attitude
• Relationship to Staff
• Relationship to Peers
• Demonstrate Initiative ~ Volunteer for Extra Work
• Demonstrate Positive Role Modeling and Leadership
• Follow Staff Directives
• Job Performance
• Positive Peer Confrontation
• Accepting Confrontation
• Participation in Group Activities
• Hygiene and Dress
• Participation at Recreation

In an effort to communicate effectively with the schools that will be receiving our students upon their discharge, a Transitions Packet is prepared.

This packet offers:

• Teacher Observations
  • Academic Ability
  • Classroom Behavior
  • Interventions
  • Strengths
• Employability Skills
• Career Awareness/Exploration
• Academic Preparation

To request a transcript please call the School Administrative Assistant at 701-667-1472

Questions regarding Education:

• Director at 701-328-6707
• Principal at 701-667-1445
• Assistant Principal at 701-667-7369