Benefits of Being a Family Teacher at Boys Town

Being a Family-Teacher at Boys Town is more than just a job. It is a lifestyle, a human and humane service, and an opportunity to truly make a positive difference in the lives of children who are hurting and without hope.

Family-Teachers serve as loving “parents,” caregivers, counselors, nurturers, disciplinarians, behavior shapers, confidants, trusted adults, problem-solvers, and most importantly – as the title implies – teachers, to the children whom they accept as part of their family.

The children who come to Boys Town seeking healing and hope have had rough, painful lives. Often, they’ve had no one to turn to for the guidance and strength everyone child needs while growing up. That’s why there is no greater reward or satisfaction than for a Family-Teaching couple to hear their Boys Town kids say, “I love my Family-Teachers. They’ve taught me so much. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else right now.”

All those who serve or who have served as Family-Teachers at Boys Town share a common bond: They have acted on their deep and abiding love for children by embracing those children who need help the most. Through good times and bad, they have helped these kids face and defeat the problems that otherwise would have defeated them.

There are many tangible benefits to serving youth as a Family-Teaching couple. Some of those will be outlined later. But it is the intangibles that truly make being a Family-Teacher worthwhile. Watching young girls or boys who are sullen and angry when they first move into a Family Home finally accept the love of their new family and begin the transformation into a caring person. Looking back with young people on their journey from the darkness and realizing just how far they’ve come and how much they’ve accomplished. And wiping away tears of joy and pride as a confident young man or young woman strides across the stage at high school graduation, prepared for what lies ahead because someone cared.

Our founder, Father Edward Flanagan, once said of the mission of helping young people, “The work will continue, you see, whether I am here or not, because it is God’s work, not mine.” Family-Teachers are at the core of the work Father Flanagan started. They keep his dream alive every day by opening their arms and their hearts to children all across our great nation.

Besides the personal rewards of helping children, Family-Teachers enjoy an abundance of benefits at Boys Town. They include:

Tuition Assistance

Employees are reimbursed for a portion of their tuition and books when they successfully complete college courses. In addition, we have an agreement with a university to provide college credit for employees involved in caring for our youth.

Tuition Forgiveness

College graduates with Perkins loans receive tuition forgiveness when working for a nonprofit child-services agency that provides services to high-risk children. Up to 100% of your loan can be eliminated if you work for Boys Town in youth care.

Career Opportunities

The average length of stay for a Family-Teaching couple is three years. Some couples have remained Family-Teachers for more than 16 years, and the Family-Teacher position has been a perfect “launch pad” for couples that want to pursue other employment opportunities within the organization. We promote people from within the organization often, moving employees into administrative jobs on Home Campus and at our sites. If you are flexible and are willing to consider various positions, your career possibilities at Boys Town are unlimited.

Parenting Skills

Training is extensive for Family-Teachers, both in the classroom and in the Family Home. This training and other resources translate into excellent skills for parenting your own children.

Wonderful Benefits

Boys Town provides excellent benefits, with the majority of the cost paid by the organization. Employees receive the full compliment of health benefits, a retirement program, a generous vacation and sick plan, and numerous other benefits as outlined in the Benefits Brochure.

Family Atmosphere

The Boys Town Teaching Model is family-based and a family atmosphere permeates everything. The saying that “It takes a village to raise a child” rings true at Boys Town because we are a community of interconnected families. Family-Teachers and their youth enjoy school sporting events, concerts, picnics, and various other social events together as families. If you visit the Village of Boys Town, don’t be surprised if the youth come up to you and shake your hand. The Village is an extremely safe community, and you will see children all over the campus. Family-Teaching couples enjoy raising their own children in this healthy environment. Employees and their families receive support through flexible scheduling and excellent benefits. Every Home Campus family vacationing each summer at Lake Okoboji in Iowa is an example of the family atmosphere.

Ability to Save/Invest Money

Family-Teachers receive housing with paid utilities, a vehicle to drive, and a budget to buy food and supplies for the Home and the youth. This allows couples to save and invest their earnings.

Members of One of the Leading Youth Care Organizations in the World

The Boys Town tradition began in 1917 and continues today, annually caring for more than 41,000 youth in 14 states. Within the youth care field, the outcomes Boys Town has accomplished with the youth it has served is unparalleled.

Beautiful Campus

The several hundred-acre Home Campus is gorgeous year round, adorned bountifully with trees of all sizes and colors. The Garden of the Bible and Father Flanagan’s Rose Garden hold but a small portion of the flowers and foliage that grace the campus. The Village of Boys Town is an incorporated community with its own fire station, police department, schools, and churches. It has a small-town atmosphere, where everyone attends the Friday night football games featuring the Boys Town Cowboys. A lake that is home to fish, geese, and other waterfowl year-round surrounds a picnic area. Our farm continues to produce crops, vegetables, and animals of the smaller variety. Employees and youth use the huge Palrang Field House, which features an Olympic-size swimming pool, a weight room, and numerous gyms where you will see employees playing basketball daily during the lunch hour.

The campuses at the sites in other states are well groomed, have a country atmosphere, and most have a swimming pool which the homes share.

Professional Support

Each Family-Teaching couple is mentored and counseled by an experienced professional who works one-on-one with couples to deal with the unique problems that are inherent to caring for difficult-to-manage youth. There is always someone available to provide assistance to and support the Family-Teachers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Family-Teachers work with schoolteachers and coaches in the schools to ensure that youth make progress and excel, both academically and behaviorally.

Part of Major Metropolitan Community

Boys Town’s Home Campus is located in the middle of the greater Omaha metropolitan area, which is home to more than 730,000 people. The area offers a combination of Midwestern friendliness and the cultural attractions and amenities of a large city. Area schools provide excellent opportunities for children in grades kindergarten through twelfth, with child-to-teacher ratios at 25 to 1 or less in most cases. There are two medical schools, four universities, several colleges, and numerous professional schools.

The homes at the sites in other states are located in or near major metropolitan communities. Boys Town offers family teachers the amenities a large city can offer in a “small town” atmosphere.

Examples of what the Home Campus (Omaha, NE) offers: The Henry Doorly Zoo is open year round and is rated as one of the best in the country with the largest indoor rain forest in the world.