Northwest Youth Services abruptly closed its primary Skagit facility in early March due to unspecified safety and health concerns, giving staff less than 24 hours’ notice to vacate.
The shuttering forced staff and partners to scramble to find alternative housing for four youths staying in the Mount Vernon facility, three of whom were from another program, YMCA Oasis Teen Shelter.
Since the March 5 closure, there has been no public timeline for when — or if — the facility will reopen. The property was purchased in 2023 for about $930,000 with roughly $775,000 in state funding. It is one of several facilities managed by the Whatcom-based nonprofit dedicated to serving homeless youth in the region.
“We’ve asked NWYS for more information about what’s going on and how it affects our services,” Amelia Lamb, with the Department of Commerce, told Cascadia Daily News on March 28. The department had a meeting with NWYS scheduled for this week.
An internal Skagit County email obtained by CDN states that NWYS Interim Executive Director Lance Jones cited “ongoing ‘atmospheric’, structural and electrical issues” with the property when asked about the need for the immediate closure of the NWYS office and housing. A separate email cites potential mold concerns. No supporting documentation was provided.
State, county and a partner organization were unable to provide any further specifics.
“We recognize the disruptive impact of this decision and are connected to our partners as we move through this process of understanding and assurance,” Jones told CDN on March 23.
The 4,269 square-foot facility comprises a building with a 2-bedroom apartment on the ground floor and two 1-bedroom apartments on the second floor, providing up to eight beds for at-risk youth. An attached commercial building on the property housed the nonprofit’s drop-in center for youth, as well as offices for Skagit staff.
Jones told Skagit County officials in a separate email that “the building was purchased without an inspection.” However, the state Department of Commerce confirmed to CDN that the house did undergo a Capital Needs Assessment, which evaluates the useful life of a building. The results of that assessment were not immediately available.
NWYS received state funding through the Department of Commerce’s Rapid Capital Housing Acquisition program for the project, which is contractually required to provide a minimum of eight beds to qualified individuals.
The county informed Jones on March 12 that any reduction in available transitional-living beds due to the closure of the Fourth Street location for more than three months “may result in a funding decrease,” according to an email obtained by CDN.
The building at 427 N. Fourth St. was purchased under the leadership of then-CEO Jason McGill, who left the organization in September amid controversy. An independent investigation launched by the nonprofit’s board into complaints about his leadership has yet to be released.
For months, the three-person NWYS board has failed to respond to CDN requests for comment.
Oasis shelter impacted
YMCA Oasis broke ground in the fall for its new shelter, which is designed to increase the number of teens the organization can house from nine to 14. Oasis was reliant on the NWYS partnership to provide four beds to youth at the Mount Vernon house.
“Staff are continuing to respond to our hotline number and will be glad to support youth in seeking alternative resources,” according to a statement on the Oasis website, noting the shelter closure. Minors in need of support can call or text (360) 230-0587.
One of the youth staying at the Mount Vernon house was reunited with family, while staff were able to find housing for the other two, confirmed Tom Pierce, the director of Philanthropy and Advancement for Skagit Valley Family YMCA.
“If the Northwest Youth Services facility on Fourth Street can reopen, then we’ll step right back into that,” Pierce said. “If they can’t reopen, then we’re gonna be out of the program for the next three, four months.”
The new Oasis shelter is slated to be finished in June. The organization is still fundraising to help repay the last 10% of construction costs, Pierce said.
He said Oasis continues to see NWYS as a key partner in Skagit county, as the organizations team up on various projects, including street outreach.
NWYS funding in Skagit
NWYS operations in Skagit County are heavily reliant on state and federal funding. However, the nonprofit received about $170,000 in funding from the county for the transitional living program and nearly $68,000 for another Skagit-based program, according to George Kosovich, with the Skagit County Public Health and Community Services Department.
The 2024-2025 NWYS budget for housing services in Skagit came to about $760,000. More than half of that was for personnel costs, according to a budget shared with Skagit County. The numbers in this budget do not match those provided by the county, but may reflect a difference in “budget calendar years,” Kosovich suggested.
The program was set to be operating at a deficit of about $1,500.
Even before the closure of the Fourth Street location, NWYS was struggling to secure units for clients. By the end of McGill’s tenure, the number of units available was slashed to nearly half of what they were in 2021 — from 13 to seven — and the number of short-term shelter beds went from four to zero.
“The loss of units has been due to dramatic rent increases without adequate funding increases and/or complexes being sold to out-of-area asset management corporations uninterested in leasing to organizations,” Andy Foye, the associate director of NWYS’s Skagit Housing Services, explained to CDN.
County officials recognize the multi-year challenges NWYS has faced in leasing housing units and the impact that has had on the nonprofit meeting its contractual service numbers, Kosovich said.
This was one of the reasons county staff were excited about NWYS purchasing the Fourth Street property, Kosovich explained.
“It’s a space that they control and would add capacity that they’re not reliant on the private landlord,” he said.
NWYS capacity is down to seven to 10 beds with the loss of the location, which is below contract expectations, Kosovich told CDN.
The nonprofit was able to exceed those expectations in 2024, housing an average of 16 youths per month and a total of 27 for the year. This was above the minimum of 12 youths at any given time and about 20 unique individuals over the contract period.
County officials met with Jones earlier this month and are “feeling much better” that there will be clear communication from NWYS about what contractors find when assessing the house, Kosovich said.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
