Cal Farley’s is a leader in residential childcare services. For over 80 years, we’ve worked to meet the needs of children and families – at no cost to the people we serve, thanks to the continued generosity of our supporters, and without seeking state of federal funds to support our work.
Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch was founded over 80 years ago by broadcaster and former professional athlete, Cal Farley. During his time playing for Amarillo’s semi-pro baseball team, the Gassers, in 1923, Cal and a couple of other men identified a gap in the community and opened two year-round athletic programs. Although these programs provided nine out of ten boys with the support they needed, there was always a tenth that would still fall through the cracks. Cal Farley began looking for a solution for that tenth boy, the children in Amarillo who had no place to go.
In the fall of 1938, Texas rancher, Julian Bivins, donated around 120 acres of land 36 miles northwest of Amarillo to be a part of Cal’s solution. At the site of Old Tascosa in March 1939, Cal established “America’s First Boys Ranch,” a residential program to provide resources and support to children who are struggling in a traditional home environment and/or experiencing trauma. Each decade, Boys Ranch has continued to grow; infrastructure has developed so that we can serve more children each year. Today, we provide state-of-the-art programs and therapeutic interventions that not only serve the children at the ranch, but also children and families throughout our community.
Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch provides professional programs and services in a Christ-centered atmosphere to strengthen families and support the overall development of children.
At Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, we believe there are six areas of need that must be addressed in order to free individuals to reach their highest potential: safety, purpose, belonging, power, achievement, and adventure. We nurture these qualities of life in our leaders, team members, and, of course, the children and families that we serve.
Safety is at the heart of everything we do. If a child’s brain determines they are unsafe and needs protection from harm, higher levels of functioning, such as logical and rational thinking, are beyond reach. Our top priority is to ensure our youth feel safe within our programs and services.
Once a child feels safe, they are not only able to learn, but empowered to feel comfortable enough to approach people and make new friends (belonging); confident enough to participate in new activities (achievement); assertive enough to make personal decisions (power); humble enough to find a cause greater than oneself (purpose); bold enough to take risks that are not reckless (adventure). Boys Ranch strives to create an atmosphere of safety through appropriate levels of supervision and an environment that meets needs and provides positive opportunities for instruction.
Throughout the years, our programs have expanded and changed to remain ever relevant to the needs of the times, holding true to the values set over many decades ago. And, still, our goal remains to prepare and empower children to become responsible citizens.
Today, Cal Farley’s is comprised of eight main program areas: Boys Ranch, our Independent Living Program, Transitional Aftercare, Family Preservation, Family Engagement, Alumni Case Management, and Community Counseling.
Boys Ranch. Cal Farley’s offers a residential community open to children ages 5 to 18. Each year, we welcome new residents from across the nation. The average length of stay at Boys Ranch is about two years before children are fully reunited with their families. While they reside at Boys Ranch, children receive evidence-based, professional therapeutic services and work toward highly individualized goals.
Our primary goal at Boys Ranch is to provide every child a safe environment where they can build meaningful, trusting relationships with their peers and responsible adults. House Parents, Case Workers, Experiential Learning Mentors, and other adult role models guide our youth to develop their potential and become principled, contributing members of society.
Children attend one of three on-campus schools (Elementary, Middle, and High School) and live in group homes with supportive House Parents. We are proud to offer a variety of academic, vocational, spiritual, and extra-curricular activities to help our children become responsible, confident, resilient young adults.
In addition to the services offered at Boys Ranch, we extend services to our community at large. Our Community Service Program provides the continuation of care for young adults who might have or have not graduated from Boys Ranch and are entering the next stage in life: determining how to live their new, independent lives. Community Service Programs offered include Independent Living Program, Transitional Aftercare, Family Preservation, Family Engagement, Alumni Case Management, and Community Counseling.
Independent Living Program. The Alumni Support Center provides a place to live for up to 25 Cal Farley’s alumni who need temporary housing assistance during their transition to adult life. It features 11 apartments, a common area for meetings or training, and laundry facilities. Life Coaches maintain accountability and offer help with basic living skills. Cal Farley’s alumni team also can help residents develop vocational skills with job placement through mentoring partnerships with local entrepreneurs. We also have 3 offsite homes in the Amarillo community that have the capacity to serve 18 young people at any given time. Our total independent living capacity is 43 youth.
Transitional Aftercare. This last fiscal year, we opened Transitional Aftercare, a new community program that provides supervision and support to Boys Ranch graduates returning to their communities either in other parts of Texas or various states. Our highly qualified Transitional Case Manager provides at least one year of case management services with weekly contact to ensure that recent graduates successfully transition into educational, vocational, and therapeutic programs in their community.
Alumni Case Management. Alumni Case Management can offer services to alumni at any age or stage of their life without having to reside in one of our Independent Living Programs. Services may include community referrals, employment readiness and maintenance skills, life skills training, budgeting skills, housing assistance, and mental health referrals.
Family Engagement. We operate a Family Engagement program that provides intervention services to children and families experiencing similar issues to those referred to Family Preservation; however, are less severe. Case Managers work with the individuals to assess their needs, develop personalized plans, and connect them with various services for up to 6 months. Our goal is to stabilize a child’s home situation to avoid the possibility of any dependency or delinquency action. Bachelor’s level Case Manager visits families twice monthly in the home, with weekly contact. This fiscal year, we have hired 1 new Case Manager. Caseload ratio is 1:20.
Family Preservation. We operate an evidence-based Family Preservation program that serves children and families experiencing a high-level of family discord, parenting deficits, financial problems, and/or mental health and medical issues. Referrals to both our Family Preservation and Family Engagement programs are received at our toll-free number from youth and families within the greater Amarillo area. Our goal is to provide intensive case management to youth and families to preserve the family unit and keep youth in their homes. Our master’s level Case Managers visit with families 1-3 times a week, depending on need. This fiscal year, we have hired 3 new Case Managers. Caseloads ratios are 1:10.
Community Counseling. This past fiscal year, we began to collaborate with Saint Francis Ministries to provide Community Counseling to external referrals. Services provided include individual therapy either in-person or via telehealth and clinical consultations with families, using Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. This model is a neuroscience-informed, developmentally sensitive approach to clinical problem solving. Recommendations are produced by completing an assessment, giving the clinician and family a “roadmap” to improve the child’s functioning (more about this in Treatment Philosophy).
With our expansive continuum of care, we aim to provide preventative, therapeutic interventions at every stage of a child’s life, designed to offer the critical mental health and education support as well as community resources needed to successfully navigate life.
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 | Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch | Faith-Based Community Relations Coordinator |
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