TRUCKEE, Calif. – “I started heavily drinking at the age of 12,” said Jordan Brandt, the Executive Director of Crow’s Nest Ranch, a substance abuse and behavioral health outpatient program in Truckee.

It began with a bottle of wine stolen from his mother’s workplace. He slipped away, drank it in secret, and for the first time felt the grip that would define the next two decades of his life. What some would dismiss as childhood experimentation quickly became the start of an all-consuming battle.

By his early 30s, he had cycled through countless treatment programs — some court-ordered, others voluntary. He had racked up multiple DUIs, struggled with cocaine and alcohol addiction, and dealt drugs.

On the night of his final DUI, he made a promise. 

“I had foolishly drank myself into another jail cell,” Brandt said. “But I promised my mom — who had just passed away — that if I got out within 24 hours, I would turn my life around.”

Within the next 24 hours, Brandt entered rehab. 

Within the next 3 years, he founded Crow’s Next Ranch. 

The organization is the only professionally run outpatient addiction treatment provider in North Lake Tahoe, also offering gender-specific sober living housing.

Its newest addition is a youth outpatient program designed for adolescents ages 12 – 17 who are struggling with substance use, behavioral health challenges or co-occurring issues. The program combines individual and group therapy, experiential activities and family support.

“My goal with the program is to be the person I needed when I was younger,” Brandt said. 

The program is now open for enrollment and accepting new clients for immediate intake. Since Sept. 1, Crow’s Nest Ranch has also begun serving Medi-Cal insured youth and families, extending support to community members who previously may not have had access to this level of care.

The program is licensed by the California Department of Health Care Services and holds national accreditation.

“Addiction can begin at a young age and grow over time,” said Brandt. “Why not offer the opportunity for healing to begin just as early?”