Children & Families First

What it reported doing in 2024

Supporting families & providing resourcesaccesscare helps families statewide identify childcare centers, family childcare homes, preschools, school-age programs and camps, and provides coaching on how to make informed care decisions. In 2024, the program assisted 2,790 people, including 252 with purchase of care enhanced support services. Just-in-time care (jitc) is a back-up dependent care program offered to corporations across the u.s. As an employee benefit. Options can include childcare centers, family childcare homes, school-age programs, centers for mildly ill children, adult daycare centers, and in-home care. Individuals can also choose their own backup care providers, including friends and family members. An employee subsidy helps offset the backup care costs. In 2024, jitc saved 5,158 workdays for 490 employees. 96% of jitc participants who completed a survey reported they were able to get to work because of the program and 92% said jitc met their needs. Family assessment and intervention response (fair) is part of the Delaware division of family services (dfs) differential response system, designed to prevent children and teens statewide from entering foster care through the provision of assessment, safety planning, and dual-generation evidence-based and informed services, including functional family therapy (fft) and child parent psychotherapy (cpp). In 2024, fair assessed 266 families and closed 300 cases (which included cases that opened in 2023). Of those, 81% closed successfully. Fair fft served 59 families and 46 families were closed. 18% were closed during the generalization phase. 64% of youth increased resiliency, and 69% of caregivers increased resiliency. Community mental health (cmh) is a statewide evidence-based dual-generation intervention that helps children and youth through age 18 and their families struggling with behavioral problems and family conflict, to improve communication, relationships, and family functioning. Fft is delivered by therapists trained in the model, and services generally complete within six months. In 2024, 142 families completed cmh. Of those, 43% successfully completed. Of those, 124 families completed fft and 52% were closed in the generalization phase, 59% of youth and 63% of adults increased resiliency, 57% of youth and 63% of adults improved their strengths and difficulties score. Of the tsf families, 14 completed and 7% of those families were successfully closed.parenting enrichment (pe) provides evidence-based dual-generation skills training and education to prevent child abuse and neglect by teaching at-risk families statewide positive and caring nurturing skills. Nurturing parenting program (npp) for parents of infants and preschoolers and strengthening families program (sfp) for older children and teens, are 14-week small group classes delivered by trained educators. Classes include dedicated time for parents to learn skills and practice them with their children. In 2024, 56 and 30 families engaged in npp and sfp, respectively. Of those engaged, 85% and 86% successfully completed; and of those, 82% and 92% demonstrated improvement across at least two parenting domains.seaford community of hope (scoh) is a community action initiative that engages a broad spectrum of public, private, faith-based, and non-profit community partners and families with lived expertise to provide comprehensive placed-based services and supports in subsidized housing neighborhoods, starting with meadowbridge and chandler heights, and to improve family stability, protective factors, and economic mobility and impact the social determinants of health of vulnerable populations. In 2024, scoh provided 319 individual/family service encounters, participated in 139 stakeholder meetings/events, and held 312 neighborhood/community events which served 5,757 community members (duplicated). In addition, 7 advisory council members were engaged to provide program guidance, and 37 families engaged in case ma

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 87.9%; rating input score 88
• Program expense ratio: 88.2%; rating input score 88
• Fundraising efficiency: $106.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 42.9%; rating input score 43; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • 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: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 0.5%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings