Griffith Centers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
840404251
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Northglenn, CO, USA
Phone
3032376865
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Residential Mental Health Treatment

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,592,867
Expenses
$10,607,119
Assets
$6,468,479
Liabilities
$3,736,663

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TANIA SOSSI (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • TANIA SOSSI (PRESIDENT/CEO): $144,760 total reported compensation
  • LAUREN CAMPBELL (CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER): $108,800 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Strengthening Colorado communities one family at a time, griffith centers provides community-based programs such as family preservation, day treatment, education, truancy prevention and counseling services and community-based services to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Griffith centers also provides residential based programs such as foster care, respite services, foster to adopt homes, residential facility and treatment. We are able to provide healing and hope to thousands as a non-profit agency.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education: griffith centers' education program, operated through the j. Wilkins opportunity school, provides a therapeutic, alternative educational setting for students in grades 3 through 12 whose academic and behavioral needs are not adequately met in traditional school environments. The program primarily serves students with individualized education plans (ieps) or 504 plans and those impacted by trauma, school disruption, or behavioral health challenges. Through small class sizes and individualized instruction, the program integrates academic coursework with therapeutic supports to address both educational and emotional needs. Educational services include individualized learning plans, credit recovery, ged pathways, and specialized interventions in reading and math, all supported by ongoing academic and behavioral assessments. Licensed therapists provide individual, group, and family therapy, ensuring a comprehensive, wraparound approach to student success. The program also incorporates experiential and community-based learning opportunities, as well as career and technical education, to build life skills, resilience, and readiness for postsecondary success.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 93% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 95
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.8%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.58; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.8% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $145K · 11 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $405K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.