The Ranches struggles to support its kids

August 19, 2009

The New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranches, which consolidated its facilities in May to save money, continues to struggle financially.

“In my opinion, what we’re going through now is the most difficult time in the history of The Ranches,” said Michael Kull, president of The Ranches. “It’s not that it’s worse than it has been in the past, but a series of things have come together simultaneously.”

The Ranches is located in Veguita, providing family-focused therapy, instruction and education and residential living space to troubled youth. The goal of the program is to reunite youth with their families.

Kull said the economic downturn has caused a hit to the program’s funding, with, for example, The Ranches losing 6.5 percent in its Wall Street investments last year. The Ranches operates with a budget of approximately $4 million, mostly through donor contributions.

“Rather than cry and go to the government for money, we decided that business people would respect us more if we would make the hard choices, just like they have to make every day,” he said.

That’s why the Boys and Girls Ranches were consolidated, with boys and girls now living together at the Veguita site. Kull said co-ed living isn’t unusual. The Ranches was likely the only childcare program in the Southwest that still housed its boys and girls separately.

“By doing that, we’ll save almost $1 million a year,” he said. “It’s very difficult to operate two cafeterias, two swimming pools, two healthcare providers, two of everything. So by doing this it’s an attempt to make our dollars go further.”

The program supports just more than 100 kids, with the bulk housed in Veguita. Boys are supported for an average of 13 months and girls for 11 months. Roughly six percent of the program’s residents are from Valencia County.

Kull explained that the majority of their expenses are in residential care for the children, and the biggest financial problem for The Ranches has been strict government regulation.

He offered an example: the federal government’s mandate that water have less than 10 parts per billion of arsenic, though the government used to allow up to 50 parts per billion.

“Guess what. The Ranches has 13 parts per billion,” he said. “Do you know how much it’s going to cost us to remove the three parts per billion?”

Kull didn’t answer his question, but local municipalities have to comply with the mandate, too, and have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and up to a couple million to build arsenic filtration systems on to their wells.

He said The Ranches takes no government funding, which is unique in childcare, yet it’s inspected by five government agencies.

“The regulations just keep growing and keep growing,” he said.

He said relying solely on contributions and investments has been a part of The Ranches struggle for survival.

“Our primary goal is to get those kids back home,” Kull said. “No institution, no matter how good, is better than ours.”

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