ÈËÊÞÐÔ½»

The layoffs include 33 employees in Auburn, where the agency is headquartered, among a total of 121 in New York state. The agency also has administrative offices in New York City.

In Florida, another 99 employees are  at Cayuga Centers locations in Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach, Port St. Lucie and Boynton Beach, according to a notice on the state's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification website. The notice said the state was notified March 21 and the layoffs will take effect June 22-26. A notice has not yet been posted on New York state's WARN website.

Cayuga Centers told ÈËÊÞÐÔ½» in a statement that the layoffs are a result of it being "critically underfunded." Many of its local and state contracts do not cover the staffing and administrative costs of providing its services, such as foster care, disability support and caregiver respite. Without increased funding rates, the agency said, it made a "difficult decision to face our current financial reality."

That decision includes closing programs in addition to the layoffs, Cayuga Centers said. Asked by ÈËÊÞÐÔ½» which programs it is closing, the agency said it will update its website in the weeks ahead as it discusses next steps with funders. The layoffs and closures will affect service areas in New York, Florida and Delaware "where we haven't been valued through our contracts," the agency continued.

"We will continue to collaborate with our funders toward a sustainable future solution to ensure we are able to provide vital services to the communities we serve. In the immediate term, we will do everything we can to transition children and families in our programs to other providers to ensure their continuity of care," Cayuga Centers said. "As we close programs, we remain fully committed to supporting our impacted employees. Additionally, we are prioritizing our foster parents, youth and families to keep them informed on next steps and ensure their services remain uninterrupted."

Cayuga Centers said its federal programs, which include Unaccompanied Children Services, are not affected at this time. The agency has with the program, which provides foster care in New York City for migrant children who arrive in the U.S. without parents. The program has been supported by hundreds of millions in federal funding, a $170 million grant for 2023 to 2026.

According to the agency's , it received $107 million in contributions and grants that year out of $145 million in total revenue. Its total expenses were $149 million, resulting in a loss of about $4 million. Those expenses included $1.8 million in executive compensation, led by CEO Edward Myers Hayes with a salary of $617,595 and CFO Elizabeth Palin with a salary of $523,078.

Hayes did not respond to multiple requests for comment by ÈËÊÞÐÔ½».

Cayuga Centers' total 2023 payroll was $76,378,581, or a little more than half of its expenses, for a staff of people. The agency, which in 1852 and was previously known as the Cayuga Home for Children, previously laid off about 120 employees in Auburn when it closed its residential treatment program in 2018. The program had been losing money for years, Hayes said at the time.