History of S.T.A.N.D.

Sex Offender Treatment and Assessment of North Dakota (STAND) began in early June of 2014  in response to a service gap outlined by the Department of Human Services, North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and United States Federal Parole and Probation.   These agencies identified a need for high-quality, evidence-based, outpatient treatment for individuals who have committed sexual crimes living throughout our state.

From this identified need area, STAND founders put their combined experience working with sexual offenders to work. They crafted a non-profit organization that was dedicated to the improved safety of North Dakota, and to eliminating sexual violence and sexual abuse.

By October 2014, services were up and running.

Our Fargo office opened first, followed quickly by Jamestown, Grand Forks, Dickenson, Minot, and then Bismarck. In February 2015, construction on our new Corporate Office in Fargo was complete, and Fargo staff moved in to our new space. The first six months of our company was an exciting time, as we recruited and hired exceptional clinical staff throughout the region and went through the first wave of training in our program model for all new staff.

In July of 2015, STAND participated in its first Correctional Program Checklist Group Audit (CPC-GA) conducted by NDDOCR. The CPC-GA covers four broad areas (program staff and support, offender assessment, treatment, and quality assurance), and rates programs at one of four classification levels (highly effective, effective, needs improvement, and ineffective). According to research by the University of Cincinnati Correctional Institute, eighty percent (80%) of programs audited nationally are rated in either the “ineffective” or “needs improvement” categories. STAND was rated in the Effective category and provided with recommendations to further enhance its services and move toward a Highly Effective rating, a rating achieved by only six percent (6%) of programs nationwide. Receiving such high marks so early in our programs history speaks volumes as to the high quality clinical staff we are privileged to have work with us.

2015

In 2015, we opened our first office in Fargo, quickly followed by Jamestown, Grand Forks, Dickinson, Minot, & Bismarck. STAND was newly operational and this was an exciting time as we were able to put our shared vision into practice.

2016

In 2016, STAND opened an office in Devils Lake.

2017

In 2017, we welcomed Dr. Kiland to our executive staff in the position of Director of Operations. Dr. Kiland brought with her over a decade of experience providing sex offender treatment and assessment, as well as having run a program for adolescents with sexual boundary problems.
Later this year we also expanded services to include care coordination and peer support.

2018

In 2018 we expanded our Federal sex offender treatment services to include services in Bismarck, Fargo and Williston. By the end of 2018, we had grown to 14 staff working out of 8 offices throughout the state.

2019

In 2019 we welcomed the opportunity to provide additional services to juveniles who have offended. Dr. Kiland was appointed as the Director of Juvenile Services. We also expanded services to include mental health treatment to individuals whose lives had been touched by sexual harm.

2020

2020 brought new challenges with the COVID-19 Pandemic and we were able to maintain operations through this difficult time, balancing the health and safety of our clients, employees and the larger community with our commitment to providing quality treatment.

2021

In 2021 our work with juveniles further expanded to include moderate-intensity treatment for juveniles with higher needs. We also expanded services to provide diagnostic, mental health assessments.

2022

In 2022 we responded to the growth we were seeing in our Bismarck and Grand Forks areas and moved into larger office space. We increased our services to the Williston and Minot areas.

2023

In 2023 we expanded services in our Bismarck area to provide community-based treatment to low-risk offenders on work release.

2024

In 2024 we expanded our juvenile program even further, to better meet the changing needs of North Dakota

Since beginning operations over a decade ago, STAND has responded to the need areas identified by our state and worked to close these gaps in services. By working in close partnership with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Human Services, and the United States Federal Probation, STAND has provided high-quality, empirically validated, sex offender and mental health treatment to over 1000 men, women, and adolescents who live in North Dakota.

STAND’s commitment to public safety was validated when we looked at our outcome data in a research study in 2019. Individuals involved in our programming had a known re-offense rate of less than 2%.  While our goal is, and always will be, a 0% re-offense rate, a 2% re-offense rate stands as a testament to the dedication and hard work of our clinicians, the quality of our services, and the commitment of the men and women enrolled in our program.  For individuals who successfully completed our program, the re-offense rate was even lower.

Since that time, STAND’s known reoffense rate has continued to decrease.  As we continue to refine our program based on the newest best practices and lessons learned, we grow even more effective in providing the high-level quality sex offender treatment that our community deserves.

We are proud to play our part in the shared goal of eliminating sexual abuse.

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