Cal Farley’s is a leader in residential childcare services. For over 85 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 or federal funds to support our work.
Cal Farley’s provides professional programs and services in a Christ-centered atmosphere to strengthen families and support the overall development of children.
How you approach a challenge has a great deal to do with how successful you’ll be at solving it. At Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, we don’t see the young people who come to us as problems in need of a solution. Instead, we approach them from a completely different perspective.
We see their strengths.
Many youth Boys Ranch serves come from difficult backgrounds that forced them to develop methods to cope with their environments. These coping mechanisms allow a child to get through challenging circumstances, but can create obstacles in other areas of their life. Boys Ranch caring professionals identify areas of a child’s life that are working well for them, and use those areas as a foundation on which to rebuild a healthy, well-adjusted child.
For example, consider a child who’s struggling in school, but who excels in an activity outside of class. A common approach might be to limit his involvement in that activity until his grades improve. And, while there might be times when that’s appropriate, Boys Ranch approach is to examine the child’s area of strength, called “islands of competence”, and determine if there’s something there the child can apply to improve his performance in the area where he is struggling.
Boys Ranch always seeks to understand why a child behaves as he does. After all, our purpose isn’t to punish poor behavior or lackluster performance. Instead, Boys Ranch wants to equip the child to choose better behaviors or increase his performance through his own choices.
Boys Ranch sees the promise in every child we serve, and we’re committed to helping them achieve it.
Our Model of Leadership and Service represents six universal needs:
SAFETY ● POWER ● PURPOSE ● BELONGING ● ACHIEVEMENT ● ADVENTURE
We believe when these six areas of need are met, individuals are able to reach their fullest potential. Relationships that are unconditional and restorative are key to meeting these needs.
We believe challenging behavior stems from one or more of these needs not being met – or being met inappropriately.
Our approach moves us from the certainty that behavior is simple willful defiance to being curious as to what need is behind the behavior.
Following more than two years of intensive certification and thousands of personnel hours dedicated to master the core concepts and implement the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT™) in our clinical setting, Cal Farley’s was invited to become a Flagship Site for the ChildTrauma Academy (CTA) in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (2012). Now, as a Phase II NMT™ Certified Site, Cal Farley’s can offer leading edge services to children and families.
What is NMT™?
The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics is a developmentally sensitive, neurobiology-informed approach to clinical problem-solving. NMT™ is not a specific therapeutic technique or intervention. It is an approach that integrates core principles of neurodevelopment and traumatology to inform work with children, families, and the communities in which they live. The Neurosequential Approach has three key components – training/capacity building, assessment, and then, the specific recommendations for the selection and sequencing of therapeutic, educational, and enrichment activities that match the needs and strengths of the individual.
Guests are welcome at Cal Farley’s historic Boys Ranch campus. We are located at the site of Old Tascosa, a pioneer town where the likes of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett walked its dusty streets.
Since 1939, though, it has served a much different purpose. On land once known for gun fights and barroom brawls, Cal Farley’s residents learn the value of integrity, perseverance and faith in God.
All visits begin at Boys Ranch Headquarters, where guests must first check in. The safety of our residents is our first priority, so guests 18 and older will be asked to present their driver’s license or photo ID.
Monday to Friday
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tour reservations are requested, but not required.
In the late 1930s, Cal Farley was playing semiprofessional baseball by day and wrestling by night in Amarillo, Texas. Mr. Farley, a World War I veteran with an engaging personality, was a fan favorite at the ballpark, where he would deliberately hit foul balls over the fence to children gathered there, knowing they could exchange these balls for a free ticket to the game. Mr. Farley realized some of these children were hanging around the ballpark when they should have been in school, and he soon found many of them came from broken homes where guidance, supervision and love often were missing.
Mr. Farley began looking for ways to help these children and, in the fall of 1938, Texas Panhandle rancher Julian Bivins agreed to support the cause. Bivins donated about 120 acres of land 36 miles northwest of Amarillo. The following March, Mr. Farley established his boys ranch at the site, which long before had been home to Tascosa, a raucous pioneer town. On land that once was known for gun fights and barroom brawls, Boys Ranch residents learned the value of integrity and an honest day’s work.
The Boys Ranch population quickly grew and, in 1944, Mr. Farley sought to bolster the boys’ social education by hosting a rodeo. About one hundred people showed up, but the idea took root. Now, thousands attend the annual Boys Ranch Rodeo.
Boys Ranch programs expanded to include girls. Yet still, we hold true to the values set over seven decades and prepare young people to become responsible citizens
We hear these words time and time again: “This place has to be seen to be believed, it’s incredible!” For those who’ve never visited our beautiful, historic campus, here’s a look at where our life-changing work happens. If you ever find yourself in the Texas Panhandle, we’d love to show you around.
Boot Hill Cemetery was named after the cemeteries in Dodge City Kansas and Tombstone Arizona. But unlike those, Tascosa’s Boot Hill was actually located on a hill overlooking the town. Fred Leigh was the first to inhabit the cemetery, after being shot out of his saddle by Tascosa’s first Sheriff, Cape Willingham, for shooting the head off of a duck!
Located in the original Tascosa courthouse serving Oldham County, the Julian Bivins Museum contains historical artifacts from Boys Ranch and Old Tascosa.
Tascosa was known as the “Cowboy Capital of the Plains” and was the rowdy home of settlers, cowboys, cattle thieves and lawmen.
The area provides an easy point to cross the Canadian River and an abundant source of drinking water from Atascosa Creek. This made Tascosa an ideal place for settlement first by Native Americans, then Spanish Pastores, and later large cattle ranches.
Tascosa was one of the first established towns in the Texas Panhandle region. The courthouse, built in 1884, served up to twelve counties.
Bypassed by the railroad, Tascosa fell from prominence and became a shadow of its once raucous self, only to be reimagined as a home for at risk children. In the early days of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch the courthouse served as a home for the first nine boys to live at the Ranch.
In the late 1930s, Cal Farley was playing semiprofessional baseball by day and wrestling by night in Amarillo, Texas. Mr. Farley, a World War I veteran with an engaging personality, was a fan favorite at the ballpark, where he would deliberately hit foul balls over the fence to children gathered there, knowing they could exchange these balls for a free ticket to the game. Mr. Farley realized some of these children were hanging around the ballpark when they should have been in school, and he soon found many of them came from broken homes where guidance, supervision and love often were missing.
Mr. Farley began looking for ways to help these children and, in the fall of 1938, Texas Panhandle rancher Julian Bivins agreed to support the cause. Bivins donated about 120 acres of land 36 miles northwest of Amarillo. The following March, Mr. Farley established his boys ranch at the site, which long before had been home to Tascosa, a raucous pioneer town. On land that once was known for gun fights and barroom brawls, Boys Ranch residents learned the value of integrity and an honest day’s work.
The Boys Ranch population quickly grew and, in 1944, Mr. Farley sought to bolster the boys’ social education by hosting a rodeo. About one hundred people showed up, but the idea took root. Now, thousands attend the annual Boys Ranch Rodeo.
Boys Ranch programs expanded to include girls. Yet still, we hold true to the values set over seven decades and prepare young people to become responsible citizens
We hear these words time and time again: “This place has to be seen to be believed, it’s incredible!” For those who’ve never visited our beautiful, historic campus, here’s a look at where our life-changing work happens. If you ever find yourself in the Texas Panhandle, we’d love to show you around.
Boot Hill Cemetery was named after the cemeteries in Dodge City Kansas and Tombstone Arizona. But unlike those, Tascosa’s Boot Hill was actually located on a hill overlooking the town. Fred Leigh was the first to inhabit the cemetery, after being shot out of his saddle by Tascosa’s first Sheriff, Cape Willingham, for shooting the head off of a duck!
Located in the original Tascosa courthouse serving Oldham County, the Julian Bivins Museum contains historical artifacts from Boys Ranch and Old Tascosa.
Tascosa was known as the “Cowboy Capital of the Plains” and was the rowdy home of settlers, cowboys, cattle thieves and lawmen.
The area provides an easy point to cross the Canadian River and an abundant source of drinking water from Atascosa Creek. This made Tascosa an ideal place for settlement first by Native Americans, then Spanish Pastores, and later large cattle ranches.
Tascosa was one of the first established towns in the Texas Panhandle region. The courthouse, built in 1884, served up to twelve counties.
Bypassed by the railroad, Tascosa fell from prominence and became a shadow of its once raucous self, only to be reimagined as a home for at risk children. In the early days of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch the courthouse served as a home for the first nine boys to live at the Ranch.
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 or federal funds to support our work.
Richard Nedelkoff has been appointed to national and statewide leadership positions in human services and public safety by three different Governors and the President of the United States. He has also served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Chief Operating Officer (COO) of four different large national non-profits providing services to youth and families. Additionally, he has managed agencies with budgets as large as six billion dollars and directed organizations with over 4,500 employees. He is a recognized expert nationally and internationally in juvenile justice, child welfare, public safety and youth and family services.
Richard began his career gaining valuable direct-care experience in positions including a residential childcare worker, foster care coordinator, child protective services caseworker, Guardian Ad Litem, and a juvenile probation officer.
As Richard‘s career progressed, he held a variety of prominent leadership positions including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services, the Executive Director of the Texas Governor’s Criminal Justice Division, the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance in the United States Department of Justice, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Eckerd Youth Alternatives, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth of America, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Childhelp, and the Chief Business Development Officer for Pressley Ridge.
Richard received a Juris Doctor degree from Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio. He earned a Master of Science degree in the Administration of Justice from the University of Louisville. He also received a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowling Green State University where he was recently named one of the 100 most distinguished graduates in the University’s 100-year history.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Mark Strother oversees operations at Cal Farley’s Boy Ranch. He holds a master’s degree in education, a bachelor’s degree in business administration and is a licensed childcare administrator.
Before joining Cal Farley’s in 2002, Mr. Strother’s long career in social work and child welfare includes working for organizations such as the Methodist Home in Waco, Texas, and the Lee and Beulah Moor Children’s Home in El Paso, Texas.
Mr. Strother serves as President of the Boys Ranch Independent School District Board of Trustees and is a member of The International Child and Youth Care Network and Association of Children’s Residential Centers.
Chief Financial Officer
A Texas native, Megan Johnson has worked in the accounting field for more than a decade. She began her career in Florida before returning to Texas, where she earned her Certified Public Accountant certification in 2007.
Ms. Johnson is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. She is an alumna of Leadership Amarillo & Canyon and Leadership Women. She also holds a Chartered Global Management Accountant designation.
The most important thing to Ms. Johnson, though, is her husband, children and extended family. She enjoys camping, fishing and the great outdoors.
Vice President of Human Resources
A fourth-generation Amarillo native, Wendy Kritser-Howard spent the last 15 years in human resources for national companies based in Denver and Amarillo.
She received her SPHR and SHRM-SPC certifications from the nation’s top two recognized accrediting bodies of human resources professionals. Her work has covered the scope of challenges in HR, and she has had senior roles in organizational and strategic planning initiatives. Ms. Kritser-Howard has developed operational synergy with outside legal and related professionals working with the Boys Ranch executive team.
Ms. Kritser-Howard and her husband, Scott, share a home with their two German Shepherd dogs and two Bengal cats. She has been active in the community and local charitable organizations for the past 14 years.
Vice President of Engagement and Major Gifts
Darrin Murphy’s heart for children led him through special education, youth ministry and a private counseling practice before he became an advocate for at risk kids.
After his time as an area director with YoungLife and as a pastor and church planter in Texas and Indiana, he returned to Amarillo where he worked as the Coordinator of Behavioral Sciences for the Amarillo Independent School District and President of the Amarillo Children’s Home. Murphy joined Boys Ranch in 2019.
In Murphy’s current role as vice president of engagement, he works with donors so they can be assured that their life’s work and assets can make a difference in children’s lives now and in the future.
Darrin has followed his calling to impact the world through kids both professionally and personally. He is the proud father of eight children and considers impacting eight future families as his highest calling.
While in college, Murphy had dreams of combining his love for ranch life with his love for helping children. At Boys Ranch, he has been able to mesh them together. He remains passionate about making sure the children at Boys Ranch get the help, shelter and security they need to thrive.
Murphy has a bachelor’s in special education from the University of Oklahoma, as well as two master’s degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary, one in theological studies and one in Biblical counseling.
Chief Financial Officer
A Texas native, Megan Johnson has worked in the accounting field for more than a decade. She began her career in Florida before returning to Texas, where she earned her Certified Public Accountant certification in 2007.
Ms. Johnson is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. She is an alumna of Leadership Amarillo & Canyon and Leadership Women. She also holds a Chartered Global Management Accountant designation.
The most important thing to Ms. Johnson, though, is her husband, children and extended family. She enjoys camping, fishing and the great outdoors.
Vice President of Human Resources
A fourth-generation Amarillo native, Wendy Kritser-Howard spent the last 15 years in human resources for national companies based in Denver and Amarillo.
She received her SPHR and SHRM-SPC certifications from the nation’s top two recognized accrediting bodies of human resources professionals. Her work has covered the scope of challenges in HR, and she has had senior roles in organizational and strategic planning initiatives. Ms. Kritser-Howard has developed operational synergy with outside legal and related professionals working with the Boys Ranch executive team.
Ms. Kritser-Howard and her husband, Scott, share a home with their two German Shepherd dogs and two Bengal cats. She has been active in the community and local charitable organizations for the past 14 years.
By telephone:
800-687-3722
806-372-2341
Visit or mail our Amarillo office:
600 S.W. 11th Ave.
Amarillo, TX 79101-3228
By fax:
806-372-6638
By e-mail:
info@CalFarley.org
If you are interested in visiting with an Intake Specialist concerning possible placement of a child, please call:
800-657-7124 · 806-372-2341
