youth specialist

case manager

family therapist

community supervision specialist

supervisor

BAYS

Working at BAYS revealed serious structural and leadership concerns that potential employees should be aware of. While employees are subject to regular performance evaluations, there appears to be no formal system in place for staff to provide feedback or evaluations of supervisors. This creates a significant imbalance of power, where supervisory authority is rarely questioned or reviewed.

As a result, employment outcomes can feel heavily dependent on the subjective perception of a direct supervisor rather than on documented performance, consistency, or professional conduct. Disciplinary processes may be framed as objective, but in practice can feel unilateral and non-developmental, leaving employees with limited protection or voice.

When employee concerns or feedback are raised through internal channels, there is no acknowledgment, response, or follow-up. This lack of engagement raises serious concerns about how employee voices are valued and whether accountability mechanisms truly exist beyond frontline staff.

Additionally, across multiple teams, leadership practices appear to be inconsistently monitored, allowing poor management behaviors to persist. In some environments, deference to authority and personality-driven leadership are implicitly rewarded, while critical thinking, professional boundaries, or dissenting perspectives are discouraged. This dynamic contributes to unhealthy team cultures and undermines trust, equity, and psychological safety.

Candidates considering frontline advocacy or family support roles should carefully assess team culture and supervisory practices during the interview process, as experiences may vary significantly depending on leadership style within certain teams.

When I was hired at BAYS I was told that I would have flexibility, an easily managed case load with only misdemeanor offenders, and minimal supervision unless needed. As it turned out I had a much larger case load than anticipated. I worked with violent felons, predatory offenders, and some misdemeanor youth. I was suddenly notified that I had to work some evenings to teach classes with these youth, and sometimes weekends if needed. All responsibility fell on the case managers, so if a family did not comply, the case manager had to work that weekend to get them to participate. This agency was not honest about the type of work, and I would not have accepted a position there if I had been told up front about the type of youth, required level of work, and hours. Less that $30,000 a year cannot in any way justify this position.

As for the relationships with management and co- workers, there was minimal support. If one ends up in a good circuit with a good supervisor s/he will have a better experience. If you have issues and ever need management's support; you will not receive it.

The pay was low and benefits way too expensive. At the yearly meetings small prizes are given and they contribute 2% to your 403B plan. The hours are not as flexible as you would expect because at any moment a youth can be arrested or a new case comes in, and you are expected to be able to be reached immediately- at 7:00am, 8:00pm, or on weekends. I found the small bit of flexibility and retirement to be nowhere near compensation for the level of stress and work given the pay.

Fisrt off the turnover was terrible, I was there 2 months and 4 people on my team quit. The Program Director does not have a clue about leadership or managing a team. She was always late to all of the meetings, would email you on the weekends, after you clocked out. 

The PD had a lack of trust in her team, was not willing to delegate task or train the team properly, she would also put multiple meeting on your calendar even when you had things already sceduled for that time. The weekly team meetings were only to tell the team that they are not doing good enough and highlight the company expectations. 

The reason I left is because of the manager and her lack of care, compassion and respect for the team.  It was a toxic work environment and the organization as a whole was terrible in my opinion. They forced you to do team bonding but there was no buget for it and employees had to pay out of their pockets. The PD was very disconnected, cold and her communication was lacking big time. All it seemed she cared about was how she looked and the numbers needed to be in the top programs. 

Proper notice was never given when changes occurred and the amount of team meetings that could have been emails is baffling. Interpersonal skills are very low at this orginization. Overall the job stressed me out! The pay is low and the expectations are high. 

Besides walking into a very toxic work environment. I am trying to figure out if there was anything positive about the experience.  Within a week of accepting a job at Bays I knew that i wouldn't be staying there long.  Nothing like beginning a job and realizing that they don't have a formal training process.  A 5 to 10 minute talk with a coworker doesn't quite prepare you to take on any task.  Overall this agency sucks and I am very glad that i left.
The hardest part of the job was dealing with incompetent people.  After being on the job for a month or two I was then asked to make up a training in order to onboard a new worker.  I thought an agency this large would have had some type of formal training process. 
I made the mistake of telling a friend about a director job at Bays.  Come to find out that they made some adjustments he made to the office agency policy.  The fella didn't receive an ounce of gratitude from the agency and also left the company after finding a less toxic work environment. 

BAYS offers an opportunity to work with youth that desperately need good role models in their lives.  It also offers flexibility.  However, the leadership, especially in the coporate office is extremely lacking in professionalism and support.  There is a culture of elitism in the coporate office and there is little support offered on the local level.  They are out of touch with the day to day life of the circuit offices, yet enforce demands without the knowledge or understanding of the requirements needed to accomplish them.  Whenever a problem arises, there is a historical record of scape goating in which supervisors and regionals are blamed and demoted or fired in order to "save face". I would never recommend working for BAYS.  There are several agencies that help children and pay a lot more than they do. It really is not worth the frustration.

The work itself is fun and worthwhile. However the culture is broken and causes unnecessary drama. Depending on the office you are working in you can be very far from your clients and will have to drive frequently, you are partially reimbursed for this. There is high turnover and you can go months without needed staff. 
However there is a chance that recent changes make things better, don't bet your career on this chance but if you need a foot in the door into the juvenile justice system this is an easy job to get. If this is a retirement job or something you hope to take care of your family, I would advise picking a different job.

Great company to work for. However, area supervisor does not know how to lead people and will deliberately set you up for failure. She very quickly reports all problems (even questionable problems) to her supervisors without giving the employees an opportunity to talk about the issues. She does this as to not take any responsibility for any situations by blaming her employees without giving them a chance to tell their side of things. It's sad because the most difficult part about working for the agency is dealing with the supervisor. I really enjoy working with juveniles with felony and misdemeanor charges. It is very rewarding.

BAYS is a great non profit organization to work for. They encourage a work/life balance, put great emphasis on professional development, offer merit increases each year based on performance, contribute to 403B plan and have a fun and positive work culture. The employee only benefits packages are very affordable and coverage is great. The opportunity to directly impact and effect positive change in children and families lives is very rewarding. The organization is growing and it will be exciting to see more ways we are able to serve local communities as well as give staff the opportunity to grow in their career.

BAYS is a very much mission driven company and wants to provide the best services to our youth and families. From top to bottom, BAYS management and staff creates a culture that is welcoming, supportive, mission oriented, and works towards completing goals. The hardest part of the job can be managing caseloads at times, however with the correct organizational skills it can be done. I think pay is something that can also increase, however BAYS does a great job of yearly merit increases, bonuses, and has opportunities to move up in the company. The most enjoyable part of the job is the staff you work with. Staff at BAYS are supportive, team oriented, offers feedback, and are working towards accomplishing goals. 

You have to be in it for the personal reward of helping kids.  There is little money and the corporate office has favorites that get compensated with bonuses---only the Tampa staff.

Management is out of touch with what staff need and do.  When we said that we wanted competitive pay the CEO compared us to football players who are trying to negotiate better pay on million dollar contracts-screamed out of touch.  And they truly are.

They must get some kind of bonus for retaining staff for two years because they seem to not care much after that, they will replace you and get another retention bonus in two years. Sure they talk a big game, but you can see through that.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Youth specialist 101 salaries reported	$20.10 per hour
Case manager 69 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Family therapist 68 salaries reported	$56,000 per year
Community supervision specialist 44 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Supervisor 6 salaries reported	$52,667 per year

Working at BAYS: Company Overview and Reviews

BAYS

BAYS Ratings

Popular jobs at BAYS

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected