Center for Policy Research

What it reported doing in 2024

Us housing and urban development (hud) 2020-2024 - this three-year contract with hud involved generating and linking administrative data from multiple sources about homeless youth in Colorado. The goal of the effort is to generate a sustainable and replicable approach to estimating homelessness among youth, ages 14-24, in Colorado. Another major goal is to describe the child welfare and public assistance program participation of younger (k- 12), and the police involvement characteristics and histories of older (18 -24) homeless youth. As part of the project, cpr made a major subaward to the university of denver's Colorado evaluation and action lab. Impacs 2020-2024 - cpr's contract with co department of human services, division of child support services (dcss) is to provide evaluation services for an employment initiative funded by the Colorado legislature using funding from federal tanf and state moe monies. The improved payment and child success (impacs) project offers employment services to unemployed and under-employed noncustodial parents in the child support program in interested counties. To date, county participants have included denver, weld, jefferson, delta, larimer, and montrose. Additional counties are being recruited. Outcomes of interest include changes in employment, earnings, child support payments and father-child relationships. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (tf-cbt) project 2022-2024 - cpr's subcontract with university of denver, Colorado evaluation and action lab is pursuant to its primate contract with the Colorado department of human services to conduct rigorous evaluations of various interventions and approaches to prevent child abuse and neglect as required in the family first initiative. Cpr's duties involve designing and implementing a rigorous evaluation of the tf-cbt intervention in denver public schools with the goal of establishing it as an evidence-based research practice that would be approved for use within the family first initiative. Children recruited and treated using tf-cbt were compared with their counterparts treated with other therapy approaches. Generational opportunities to achieve long-term success (goals) 2018-2024 - contract with arapahoe county department of human services to design, implement and test a 2gen approach to addressing economic insecurity among homeless families. Conducted with family tree and arapahoe county human services, in partnership with diverse government and community-based service providers, the project will serve approximately 15 families at a time who will be housed at the oxford vista campus at the former excelsior youth center at 15001 e. Oxford ave. In aurora, for stays of approximately four to nine months. Cpr's formative and impact evaluations address the implementation of the project, client characteristics and client outcomes. Homeless families who receive 2gen services are compared with a control group comprised of families that receive regular services. Trailbuilding project 2021-2025 - cpr's purchase order from the Colorado department of human services, division of child support services (dcss) is to evaluate a demonstration project funded by the federal office of child support services entitled charting a course for economic mobility and responsible parenting. The project aims to develop youth-driven messages about the benefits of education and delayed parenting and disseminate them to at-risk youth through various social media platforms including tiktok, snapchat, youtube, and instagram. Cpr's evaluation will assess the process and efficacy of engaging youth in the development and distribution of social change messages. Delta ahead Arizona - cpr provides evaluation services to the Arizona coalition to end sexual and domestic violence (acesdv) for a five-year project funded by the cdc known as the domestic violence prevention education and leadership through alliances (delta): achieving health equity through addressing disparities

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 64%; rating input score 64
• Program expense ratio: 72.1%; rating input score 72
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 95%; rating input score 95; 30th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 15th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 13.6%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.33; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 30.7%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 19.9% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings