BELGRADE, Mont. — Montana has one of the highest suicide rates in the country, and its young people are no exception. A recent report found the suicide rate among Montana youth ages 10 to 17 is twice the national average.
Now, an organization is working to address the issue at a place many people may know as Bootstrap Ranch, a sprawling Belgrade campus that is getting a new purpose.
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Kirsten Smith, Gallatin Behavioral Health Coalition coordinator and executive director of Lighthouse Ranch, walked through the roughly 30-acre property and explained its history.
“We’re standing on a 30-acre campus that was developed in the ’90s to serve as a boarding school for youth with behavioral health needs from all over the country,” Smith said.
Since then, the property has served several purposes.
Most recently, it was owned by Liberty Place.
“It was owned by Liberty Place and for eight years provided assisted living facility services for people with brain injuries,” Smith said.
Widely known as Bootstrap Ranch, the campus has sat vacant since Liberty Place moved out in 2023. Now, Lighthouse Ranch is bringing the property back to something similar to its original purpose.
“Now it’s kind of coming back to its original form and will be a campus providing behavioral health services for youth,” Smith said.
Lighthouse Ranch has been in the works since 2024, when HRDC became involved. The nonprofit helped purchase the campus from Liberty Place for around $3.5 million, about $4 million below its appraised value.
“Behavioral health continues to be a significant community challenge,” HRDC Chief Executive Officer Heather Grenier said. “We can contribute meaningful ways like this to bring new partners in, to get new services on the ground. So we’re filling a critical gap.”
HRDC has since secured $5 million toward the new campus and transferred ownership to Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, a longtime nonprofit behavioral health organization focused on children.
“This transition means renovations start on the campus,” Smith said. “And in 90 to 120 days, there will be youth here receiving outpatient services.”
Smith said the need for those services in Montana is significant.
“Montana has the highest teen suicide rate in the nation right now,” Smith said.
In Gallatin County alone, Smith said 14% of teenagers report having attempted suicide in the past year. She said around 200 to 300 children end up in emergency departments each year following a suicidal crisis.
In the past, Southwest Montana had no local options if a child needed to be monitored after a crisis.
“Do you end up in Shodair in Helena, which is about 100 miles away? Eastern Idaho Medical Center in Idaho Falls, three hours away? Or elsewhere?” Smith said.
Lighthouse Ranch aims to give young people the opportunity to receive those services closer to home.
The work to fund the campus, however, is not finished. Lighthouse Ranch and HRDC are still looking for support from the community.
For Smith, the issue is one everyone should pay attention to.
“I’m guessing that everybody who’s watching this either knows someone, or it is themselves, who have gone through this,” Smith said. “This is not an other-people problem. It’s an all-of-us problem, and it’s a really big problem that has been ongoing for a long time.”
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