Shelter and programs for youth who have runaway or are experiencing homelessness, as well as youth at risk of running away. Crisis intervention services include family mediation. Outreach provides kids living on the street access to supplies and other help, as well as recently re-opened drop-in hours for showers, laundry, and meals. Emergency Shelter gives teens a safe place to escape the perils of living on the streets or time to help a situation at home deescalate. Longer term Transitional Living at the LOFT helps youth complete their education and develop skills for self-sufficiency. Cascade Youth & Family Center (CYFC) offers only shelter and programs of its kind within 200 miles.

Recently, in an effort to better serve all of Central Oregon, CYFC expanded their services in Redmond with a case manager specifically for the Northern Deschutes County area. In the past, case managers have made the drive from Bend to meet with teens and families in crisis or conflict. Having a full-time office in Redmond’s Becky Johnson Center will make these services easier to access and schedule.

“This addition helps us cover Deschutes County. Case Managers used to drive all the way from La Pine to Redmond.” CYFC’s Basic Center Program Manager Vandi Reiter explains. “Now, our Redmond based Case Manager will cover Redmond and Sisters, and those based in Bend can focus on Bend and La Pine.” The program also responds to referrals in Madras and Prineville, and provides services in those communities when needed.

The Basic Center Program in Redmond can offer the same emergency shelter for youth or who need time outside the family home to allow a situation time to deescalate and work through the mediation process, as well as to those who may be living on the street or couch surfing. There are two rooms at CYFC’s LOFT in Bend, and others in host homes. The program is currently seeking host homes throughout the region, to allow youth to stay in their hometowns.

We are J Bar J Youth Services.