Tampa youth program shutters, 144 employees laid off

Wayne Halfway House, a Tennessee-based youth offender program, is closing its program in Tampa and laying off 144 employees.

The organization informed the state and city of its decision in a letter Wednesday, saying it is shuttering operations at Tampa Bay Girls Academy “due to unforeseeable business circumstances.”

The letter, sent to meet federal Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification notice requirements, says the closing would be immediate.

The human resource manager who signed the Dec. 10 letter did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

Wayne Halfway House, according to its website, “serves a diverse population of youth, ranging from those who have been adjudicated dependent and neglected and are involved with a social services agency to those who have been adjudicated delinquent and are involved with a juvenile justice agency.”

Its system, which incorporate behavioral therapy, includes the Step-Down Program. This allows the young people involved to transition from a “hardware-secure setting” to a less restrictive setting as they reach milestones. Those include positive and appropriate behavior and reaching educational goals, the organization says. 

The Tampa Bay Girls Academy is on Columbus Avenue in Tampa. According to its profile on the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice website, it serves 12-year-old to 19-year-old females who “require borderline intellectual functioning, intensive mental health and intensive medical” care.

Elisicia Searcy, the facility administrator, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening about how many young women were participating in the program and what would happen to them.

Searcy’s email address listed on the state’s website is a Wayne Halfway House address. Facility administrator is on the list of jobs cut that was included in the letter.

The Department of Juvenile Justice did not respond to an after-hours email about the status of the Tampa Bay Girls Academy.

As of Wednesday evening, it was not clear if the Tampa closing was an isolated incident or if operations in other areas where shutting down as well.

Wayne Halfway House operates at six other locations in Florida, but there were no other WARN notices issued in the state. Nor were there notices in Tennessee’s database where it operates at seven facilities.