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{{Short description|Non-profit organization based in
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{{More citations needed|date=December 2022}}
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{{Infobox organization
| name = Boys Town
| logo =
| map =
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==History==
[[File:Boys Town, Nebraska (66677).jpg|thumb|right|Boys Town, Nebraska]]
Boys Town was founded on December 12, 1917,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/boys-town-centennial|title=Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Program|website=usmint.gov | access-date = January 8, 2020}}</ref> as an [[orphanage]] for boys. Originally known as "The City of Little Men", the organization was begun by [[Edward J. Flanagan]], a Roman Catholic [[priest]], while he worked in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Omaha|Diocese of Omaha]]. Using a loan of $90, he first rented a home at 25th and Dodge streets, in Omaha, to care for five boys, the first of whom was named John Kresse.<ref>[https://www.boystown.org/about/father-flanagan/Pages/flanagan-timeline.aspx Timeline]</ref> From these beginnings, the City of Little Men developed new juvenile care methods in 20th-century America, emphasizing "social preparation as a [[Modelling (psychology)|model]] for public boys' homes worldwide".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAesAgAAQBAJ&q=the+%22City+of+Little+Men%22+pioneered+development+of+new+juvenile+care+methods+in+20th-century+America&pg=PA153|title=Developing Emotional Intelligence in the Primary School|first1=Sue|last1=Colverd |first2=Bernard |last2=Hodgkin|publisher=Routledge|date=2011|page=153|isbn=978-1136841347|access-date=July 4, 2016}}</ref>▼
▲Boys Town was founded on December 12, 1917,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/boys-town-centennial|title=Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Program|website=usmint.gov |date=September 19, 2016 | access-date = January 8, 2020}}</ref> as an [[orphanage]] for boys. Originally known as "The City of Little Men", the organization was begun by [[Edward J. Flanagan]], a Roman Catholic [[priest]], while he worked in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Omaha|Diocese of Omaha]]. Using a loan of $90, he first rented a home at 25th and Dodge streets, in Omaha, to care for five boys, the first of whom was named John Kresse.<ref>[https://www.boystown.org/about/father-flanagan/Pages/flanagan-timeline.aspx Timeline]</ref> From these beginnings, the City of Little Men developed new juvenile care methods in 20th-century America, emphasizing "social preparation as a [[Modelling (psychology)|model]] for public boys' homes worldwide".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAesAgAAQBAJ&q=the+%22City+of+Little+Men%22+pioneered+development+of+new+juvenile+care+methods+in+20th-century+America&pg=PA153|title=Developing Emotional Intelligence in the Primary School|first1=Sue|last1=Colverd |first2=Bernard |last2=Hodgkin|publisher=Routledge|date=2011|page=153|isbn=978-1136841347|access-date=July 4, 2016}}</ref>
=== 1917–1921: Early growth & societal challenges ===
Boys Town quickly grew from the original five boys living in a home in downtown Omaha in 1917 to more than 100 boys by early 1918. The increase required a relocation in 1919 to South Omaha. Flanagan had been contending with criticism about having kids of different races, religions, nationalities, and backgrounds all living together under the same roof. Mounting societal tensions and the need for even more space led to Flanagan’s 1921 decision to relocate Boys Town to Overlook Farm.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cordes |first=Henry J. |date=2 March 2024 |title=When Segregation Prevailed In US Boys Town May Have Been Nations First Integration Community |url=https://omaha.com/news/local/history/when-segregation-prevailed-in-us-boys-town-may-have-been-nations-first-integrated-community/article_f0eedf4e-d671-11ee-87db-c36dc4c3baca.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302144833/https://omaha.com/news/local/history/when-segregation-prevailed-in-us-boys-town-may-have-been-nations-first-integrated-community/article_f0eedf4e-d671-11ee-87db-c36dc4c3baca.html |archive-date=2 March 2024 |access-date=27 March 2024 |work=Omaha World Herald}}</ref>
=== 1921–1948: Father Flanagan develops Boys Town ===
In 1921, Father Flanagan purchased Overlook Farm on the outskirts of Omaha and moved his boys' home there. The move to Overlook Farm was a major step in Father Flanagan's plan to create a developed community. In time, the Home became known as the Village of Boys Town. By the 1930s, hundreds of boys lived at the Village, which was developed to include a school, dormitories, and administration buildings. The boys elected their own government, including a mayor, council and commissioners. In 1936, the community of Boys Town was designated as an official village in the state of Nebraska.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History|url=https://www.boystown.org/about/our-history/Pages/default.aspx|access-date=April 26, 2021|website=Boys Town|language=en-US}}</ref>
By the late 1930s, Boys Town's development and staff efforts to court public support had made it the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles. In 1938, producers from MGM Studios traveled to Boys Town to discuss the prospects of a [[Boys Town (film)|movie]] about the Home. A few months later, [[Spencer Tracy]] and [[Mickey Rooney]], two of the biggest stars of the day, and a 61-member crew arrived at Boys Town to begin ten days of on-location filming. After Tracy won an Academy Award for his role, the Academy had another statuette inscribed, for Father Flanagan.
On May 15, 1948, Father Flanagan suffered a fatal heart attack in [[Berlin|Berlin, Germany]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Msgr. Flanagan dies suddenly in Berlin|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/msgr-flanagan-dies-suddenly-in-berlin-1.26692|access-date=April 26, 2021|website=Stars and Stripes}}</ref> By the time of his death, daily life for the boys in the Village had become a mix of school, work, play, and family togetherness. The "City of Little Men" was thriving and so were its young citizens.
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The Diocese of Omaha and Boys Town contracted with the consulting firm [[Booz Allen Hamilton|Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.]] to assess its future. Their multi-volume study recommended that Boys Town expand its programs and services into new areas, while continuing to raise funds. The study identified societal changes that made providing group care of the boys in dormitory settings ineffective, and proposed approaches to offer more individualized care for children.
▲Monsignor Hupp was determined to pioneer new methods and directions of care, and give programs and ideas a chance to succeed, stating, "We must never be content to stand still when children are at risk."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lynch|first=Thomas J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/950901737|title=A century of service, a history of healing: the Boys Town story|date=2016|others=Terry Hyland|isbn=978-1681840536|location=Virginia Beach, VA|oclc=950901737}}</ref>
==== Family Home programs ====
Spaces were redesigned and new
In late 1974, Boys Town hired its first "Family-Teachers®", a married couple who would begin caring for a small group of youth in a former cottage being converted into a "Family Home®". Three other couples were hired soon after. That core group worked with other staff members to develop formal training materials for the Family-Teachers who were being recruited. As new couples were trained, they moved into sixteen newly built homes as well the remaining converted cottages. By the end of 1975, the last of the dormitories was closed and the transition to the Boys Town Family Home Program was complete.▼
▲In late 1974, Boys Town hired its first "Family-Teachers
Religious education and practice had been part of Boys Town's youth care approach since the days of Father Flanagan. In the new Family Home Program, a boy's spiritual development played a major role in treatment. It was the responsibility of the Family Home, church, and school. Family-Teachers were asked to respect and enhance the religious traditions of Boys Town youth without proselytizing or "forcing" religious practices on them. Family-Teachers also attended church with their youth, taught proper church behavior, and modeled and taught religious home habits such as prayer, reflection, and study.
Monsignor Hupp had experience working with troubled girls
In 1978, he accepted five girls into the Boys Town residential program in what was to be a small, short-term test. These first girls lived off-campus in a downtown Omaha home owned by Boys Town. In 1979, a few girls were admitted to live in a Family Home on the main campus. More followed and by 1985, twenty-six girls were citizens of Boys Town.
▲==== Boys Town begins to include girls ====
▲Monsignor Hupp had experience working with girls and was aware of their problems also. He had served from 1946 to 1950 as chaplain, teacher, and athletic coach for a girls' home run by the [[Sisters of the Good Shepherd]] Convent in Omaha.
▲In 1978, he accepted five girls into the Boys Town residential program in what was to be a small, short-term test. These first girls lived off-campus in a downtown Omaha home owned by Boys Town. In 1979, a few girls were admitted to live in a Family Home on the main campus. More followed and by 1985, twenty-six girls were citizens of Boys Town. "I saw it as an experimental program", Monsignor Hupp said. "I also had trouble convincing the Board of Trustees that accepting girls wasn't a mistake. But when the girls arrived, it actually improved the behavior of the boys."{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}
=== 1985–2005: Father Valentine Peter ===
In February 1985, Boys Town was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] District for the significance of its work with children and youth, and was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. Every year, thousands of visitors drive through the shady, tree-lined streets of the Village, with many stopping at Dowd Chapel to visit Father Flanagan's tomb. In the early 21st century, Boys Town is the only National Historic Landmark District in Nebraska.
In 1985, Father Valentine Peter was appointed Boys Town's fourth national executive director. Father Peter wanted to ensure the continued effectiveness of Boys Town's residential program. He also knew the Home had to be prepared for what childcare would look like ten, twenty, or thirty years down the road. He believed Boys Town had to further develop a "continuum of care", using proven childcare technologies. No matter what troubles children brought with them, Boys Town would be prepared and able to provide healing and hope.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Town|first=Compiled by Boys|title=A brief history of Boys Town|url=https://omaha.com/sponsored/a-brief-history-of-boys-town/article_eb8c1eed-d48b-5677-a1ad-338529ba6c36.html|access-date=April 26, 2021|website=Omaha.com|date=December 3, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> In 1988, Father Peter led an effort to transfer Boys Town's experience and technology to four new services: Parent Training, Home-Based Services (in-home crisis intervention), Treatment Foster Care, and Shelter Care. Grouped under an umbrella called Family-Based Programs, these services would ultimately become the core of Boys Town's new continuum of care.
The basic question about whether Boys Town's youth care model was replicable had already begun to be answered at the first Boys Town USA site in Tallahassee, Florida. Encouraged by that success and motivated by the clamor for similar services for youth in many other cities, Father Peter planned for a major and rapid expansion. "We're taking our healing out from the Heartland to the whole nation", he said, announcing Boys Town's goal to establish programs in seventeen major metropolitan areas.
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In 1989, the National Group Home Program established in 1975 was expanded and renamed the Boys Town National Training Center. Prior to this, Boys Town had provided technical assistance and training to other residential care facilities for youth to replicate Boys Town's methods. Father Peter wanted to influence more childcare providers, including those who wanted to use only some of Boys Town's methods, and others who worked with youth in schools and psychiatric care programs rather than residential settings. With the well-researched, outcomes-oriented techniques Boys Town had developed, they began to share this new knowledge with caregivers who were helping children in different settings.
In May 1989, Boys Town established a lifeline for troubled children and their parents. The Boys Town National Hotline® was a toll-free crisis number (800-448-3000) that was available twenty-four/seven to callers across the country. Trained professional counselors handled calls on any problem, from drug abuse, sexual abuse, and suicide, to depression and parent-child conflicts.
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By 2005, Boys Town was being recognized as one of the largest and most effective child and family care organizations in the United States.
===
Source:<ref>google.com</ref>
In 2005, the board chose Father Steven Boes, another priest with Nebraska ties and experience working with children, as Boys Town's fifth national executive director.
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Boys Town knew there would always be children who need the intensive, skills-focused intervention provided through its Family Home Program. These children have been removed from their homes and families due to serious problems and challenges and could get the most benefits from successfully completing a service plan in a Boys Town Family Home.
By 2011, of the nearly 29,000 children Boys Town served across the nation, 75 percent of them safely and effectively received care while living with their own families. This was significantly higher than the 30 percent of children who received services through Boys Town in-home programs in 2007. In 2013, of the 35,500 children and families directly served by Boys Town, 92 percent received services while children lived in their homes. This focus on preventive in-home care would continue into the future.
==Facilities==
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==Logo==
In 1943, Boys Town adopted as its image and logo a picture of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, captioned [[He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother|"He ain't heavy, Father, he's my brother"]], a phrase originating with the [[United Free Church of Scotland]]. They felt it epitomized the importance of their residents caring for each other and having someone care about them.<ref>{{cite web|date=July 13, 2015|first=Andy|last=Williams|url=http://omahamagazine.com/2015/07/he-aint-heavy/|title=He Ain't Heavy Boys Town's Chris and Lori Mathsen|website=Omaha Magazine |access-date=July 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829064704/http://omahamagazine.com/2015/07/he-aint-heavy/
==National locations==
Boys Town has
==References==
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