Hello YouthCare Friends and Community,

Let me begin with honesty: these are times I hoped we wouldn’t see.

Federal funding challenges have created instability across the nonprofit sector, and more changes are coming. At YouthCare, we’re acting now to protect what matters most: the services that meet youth in crisis right here in King County, the staff who walk beside them, and the mission we’ve carried for 51 years. We’re not waiting for the next round of federal government cuts to define us—we’re defining our future with clarity, courage, and care.

Today, I want to share what’s changing, what’s not, and why these decisions reflect both our values and our long-term vision.

As you will see – these are not easy decisions. And we need your help more than ever before.

What’s Changing—and Why

We are closing two programs:

• Casa de los Amigos, a long-standing shelter for undocumented immigrant youth who arrive in the U.S. without a parent or guardian. Casa provided housing, stabilization, and legal coordination for youth referred by federal immigration authorities. With federal cuts to similar services already underway and more anticipated, the sustainability of this program model became increasingly uncertain. In recent years, Casa has seen significantly reduced referrals due to changing immigration policies and a steep decline in border crossings. Today, the program supports just one youth with 29 dedicated staff. While we deeply honor its legacy, Casa no longer aligns with YouthCare’s regional focus or funding model. This was a hard but necessary decision to ensure we can continue showing up for youth across King County.
• YouthGrow, a “Stay-in-School” program serving students at Seattle Public Schools’ Interagency Academy.  Homelessness is not a requirement for this program. This summer will mark its final cohort offering gardening and entrepreneurial training. While this program made a positive impact, we are reallocating its funding to reach more youth through a new, inclusive workforce initiative.

We are also evolving two programs:

• GED Program – Rather than operating our own classroom, we will now help youth access regional education systems with coaching, navigation, and support—ensuring they don’t just enroll, but persist and succeed.
• Computer Technology Training – Funding from YouthGrow will support a new digital literacy and repair program in partnership with PCs for People. Youth will gain hands-on computer skills and basic servicing experience to support career readiness.

Critical Services We’re Preserving

We are preserving three life-saving programs—not because it was easy, but because it matters. In a time when resources are stretched thin and every decision carries weight, we found a way to protect what this community has told us matters most:

• YouthCare’s Adolescent Shelter provides crisis housing and stabilization for young people ages 12–17 in immediate need. It’s often the first safe place youth land after fleeing abuse, being discharged from a system, or facing family breakdown. This shelter is a lifeline—and it’s staying open.
• The ISIS Program offers LGBTQ+ youth a safe, affirming housing environment where they are celebrated, not just accepted. For many, it’s the first time they’ve had a space that affirms both their identity and their right to stability.
• The Phoenix Program supports Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM), ages 16–22, who have legally entered the U.S. without a parent or guardian. These young people have URM status and are placed under YouthCare’s legal guardianship while in our care. We help them obtain identification, access services, and build their lives in King County.

Preserving these programs required rethinking funding, reallocating resources, and stretching what we have with care and intention. These are the kinds of hard choices our mission demands. And we made them—because showing up for youth means doing the work to find a way.

These decisions were not made lightly, and they were not made in a vacuum. Like many nonprofits, YouthCare is navigating a post-pandemic funding environment marked by decreased federal support, fewer contract renewals, and inflation-driven cost increases. Rather than wait for funding gaps to widen, we’re taking proactive steps now to stabilize core services and extend the impact of every community dollar we receive.

Our Core Mission Services Are Here to Stay

Longstanding YouthCare programs such as our Young Adult Transitional Living services, Emergency Shelter and Day Center operations at the Orion Center, employment training and support, the YouthBuild construction program, and our vital intervention services remain intact.

These are the programs that embody our core mission—and we are making the hard decisions now to protect them. They continue with strength, resolve, and an unwavering commitment to the youth who rely on them.

Supporting Our Staff with Respect and Care

These transitions are deeply difficult. With change comes impact. 29 staff members will be affected in this transition. We are informing impacted staff personally before any public messaging and are offering:

• Career transition services
• Internal job opportunities where available
• HR-led support and respectful conversations

These dedicated staff members have shown up for the mission to serve youth in crisis every day. And we will show up for them now with respect and dignity.

Where We’re Headed—and Why We’re Not Waiting

YouthCare is acting decisively in the face of a shifting funding landscape to preserve core services and reinforce our long-term sustainability. Across the country, nonprofits are grappling with funding loss, and we’re choosing to meet that challenge head-on, not with retreat—but with clarity.

This moment is not about contraction—it’s about recommitment. A recommitment to serving youth in King County. A recommitment to integrated care. A recommitment to stability, equity, and growth.

At the center of this transformation is The Constellation Center—our flagship initiative, opening in 2027. It’s more than a building. It’s a regional hub for wraparound care, where housing, workforce, education, and community support will live side by side. And every decision we’re making today lays the foundation for that future.

The Promise Still Stands

We know you share our passion, our dedication and care for the youth we have helped for so long. I will be honest.  In these difficult days, we need you more than ever. Please consider supporting us in the difficult struggles ahead.

YouthCare is not disappearing. We’re still here—because the need is still here.

The young people we serve are navigating crises they didn’t choose—from systems they didn’t create. And still, they show up—with courage, with hope, and with a hunger to move forward. We owe them our best.

We will protect their lifelines.

We will keep the promise to stand beside them—for as long as it takes.

With gratitude and resolve,

Degale Cooper
CEO, YouthCare