Coming Home of Middlesex County

What it reported doing in 2024

Coordinated Entry & Assessment - In collaboration with homeless service providers, Coming Home created a system of standardized assessment and coordinated referral of people experiencing a housing crisis. The goals of the system are to minimize the time anyone in the county experiences a crisis and to prioritize available assistance, based on vulnerability and severity of service needs. A coordinated entry & assessment (CEA) system also provides information about social and health service needs and gaps to help our broader community better plan its assistance and identify the resources needed. The chronological waiting lists of the past have become instead prioritization lists, making sure that we rehouse, as quickly as possible, the persons most in need.Pursuant to the CEA process, all persons enter the system through calling NJ 211, the homeless hotline, or visiting a few physical access sites in the community where a triage is conducted using a concise, standard assessment tool and standard protocols. A person can be immediately placed into service programs, e.g., a shelter bed, the board of social services. The service programs will conduct a full assessment, using a more expansive tool to determine needs, strengths and barriers to housing. They forward their assessments to the CEA team, housed in coming home, which maintains an inventory of available housing options, reviews the assessments done by the agencies and prioritizes placement based on appropriateness, vulnerability and severity of service needs.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 79.3%; rating input score 79
• Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
• Fundraising efficiency: $23.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd 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: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 7.2%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.52; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 19.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings