Grace Smith House Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Outreach programgrace smith house has an extensive outreach and community education program. Through our outreach efforts we collaborate with community partners on projects designed to increase victim safety, enhance family wellbeing and maximize offender accountability. During 2024, our outreach programs and activities included the following: family court advocacy project - grace smith house coordinates with dutchess county family court to have two advocates provide advocacy services to walk in customers who seek assistance from family court. Many individuals often show up at family court after an incident has taken place that has them turning to court for protection and help. Grace smith house advocates meet with individuals to assess for the presence of domestic violence, provide risk assessment, engage in safety planning, educate the individual about victim rights and options as well as explain how the civil court process works. Advocates assist and support petitioners in completing paperwork and filing for emergency orders of protection. During the year, this program assisted 955 petitioners to file emergency protective orders. Grace smith house also has a separate court advocate who is responsible for accompanying victims to court, helping them understand the court proceedings, connecting them to legal services, and providing advocacy as needed. This advocate was able to provide extensive court advocacy services to 163 individuals and accompanied clients to court a total of 362 times during the year.child protective services domestic violence liaison project grace smith house has two domestic violence liaisons embedded in the child protective services unit in our county. These liaisons serve as a knowledgeable resource to child protective services caseworkers regarding issues related to domestic violence. They also provide ongoing domestic violence services to those families referred from the child protective services unit. Last year these liaisons served 140 families and provided 137 consultations to child protective services case workers. In addition, 14 separate training sessions were provided to child protect services caseworkers on relevant issues related to domestic violence.community outreach, prevention & education program grace smith house is dedicated to raising the consciousness of the community regarding the extent, type, and seriousness of intimate partner violence. Throughout the county, our staff educates the general community, healthcare providers and other community service providers on how to identify, assess and safely screen for the presence of domestic violence, the impact domestic violence has, as well as our programs and services available and how to connect those needing our services. In addition, our prevention and education program focuses on giving young people the tools they need to have healthy relationships and recognize abusive behaviors. Grace smith house educators visit middle and high schools, trying to reach all districts in dutchess county, with presentations. In middle schools, education focuses on prevention of bullying, while in high schools the focus is teen dating violence prevention and education with topics such as healthy relationships, dating violence, digital abuse, safety planning, and social media safety. During the year, staff attended 87 community awareness events and provided 245 presentations successfully educating 3,339 middle and high school students and 933 adults in our community.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 64.4%; rating input score 64
• Program expense ratio: 76.8%; rating input score 77
• Fundraising efficiency: $18.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th 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; 72nd 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: 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: 23%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.3; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings