The former American Hebrew Academy site at the corner of Hobbs Road and Jefferson Road continues to be the source of much speculation.

People who live near the site, or drive past it frequently, can’t figure out what is going on. The answer is not much.

On Friday, Jan. 19, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children & Families Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) issued press released titled “ORR Influx Care Facilities for Unaccompanied Children: Fact Sheet.”

According to that fact sheet not only is the Greensboro Influx Care Facility (ICF), the official name of the former Hebrew Academy, not currently housing any refugee children, there is currently no projected date for when it will.

The press release states,

“HHS has secured a facility in Greensboro, North Carolina as the site of the future Greensboro ICF. When opened, the ICF will provide shelter for boys and girls, 13 to 17 years old, and has a capacity of up to 800 beds. There are currently no children in care at the site, and no current activation date. Opening the facility will depend on a variety of factors including capacity requirements and UC referral rates, among other considerations. Current facilities on campus will be utilized for education, housing, mental health, medical, and case management needs.”

One of the key phrases in that paragraph is “the site of the future Greensboro ICF.”

It appears that the former Hebrew Academy is not yet considered an Influx Care Facility, and since it was leased by HHS in 2022, not only has the facility not housed a single child, the plans if they exist to house children at the facility are not far enough along to propose a date when that might happen.

The same press release states that the former ICF at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas, has been closed down.

It also states that the Dimmit County ICF in Carrizo Springs, Texas, which has a capacity of 250 beds, currently has 22 children in care at the site.

The fact that the ORR is not fully utilizing the ICFs that it currently has, and closed down an ICF that was in use, certainly raises the question of whether the future Greensboro ICF will ever become an ICF, and if it does whether or not it will ever house any children.

The question a lot of people would like to have answered is, why are there so many buses and cars at the former Hebrew Academy if it isn’t being used to house refugee children.  The press release had no answer for that question.