Great place to work but could be improved greatly. - House Parent - Primary Cal Farley's Employee Review

4.0
8 May 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are some amazing people here who truly care about the children here. Administration encourages staff to further education and Cal Farley's has an incredible tuition assistance program for staff to utilize.

Cons

Filling beds seems more important than keeping good house parents. Living in the same house when you are off duty makes it impossible to disconnect and have a separation of work and personal life. The pressure to have all the kids with electronics and cell phones with no real expectations or boundaries makes an extremely stressful environment for the house parents and it creates more drama between the residents on campus. The rotating schedule for House Parents is very difficult. The budget constraints resulted in staff not getting raises the next few years. That is a big let down.

Explore other reviews about Cal Farley's

5.0
12 Dec 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

In-Depth Training Ample support Sound leadership Very good perks

Cons

Stressful at times work-life balance

4.0
6 Sept 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

*You learn so much from the kids and grow many meaningful relationships with them and staff. *The work you do is incredibly meaningful and worth every moment you spend with the kiddos. *Unforgettable memories.

Cons

* Lack of support/Support from afar: It doesn't always feel like the team has the best interest of the child in mind. I know they mean well, but sometimes it felt like they just wanted to mitigate an issue with a kid they knew would make their own bad day everyone else's issue at the expense of the primary house parents, and it wasn't fair. There were times where my coworker and I felt like it was just us because even our alternates wouldn't uphold our rules when we were off. The team would say things like "y'all are doing an amazing job with this house", but they would hardly swing by to see our kids [not everyone on our team. Some of them were incredibly supportive]. *The schedule. 6 days on 3 days off *The pay-hours worked ratio: it's a salaried job and hps starting out made/make minimum wage. The hours are 6am-10pm, but if you work past that (which you will if you live in the house a primary because they will make you night staff as well), you don't get compensated for it. They have night staff youth workers who are compensated to work 10pm-10am or 10pm-6am (they made $14 when I left), so why don't hps also get compensated?

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