Home Start Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953138268
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
6196920727
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Child Abuse, Prevention

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,476,632
Expenses
$11,654,651
Assets
$12,002,688
Liabilities
$2,240,131

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURA A TANCREDI-BAESE (EX-CEO)
  • PAUL DAVIS (Vice President)
  • STEVEN EPHRAIM (President)
  • JOE BUEHRLE (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURA A TANCREDI-BAESE (EX-CEO): $189,779 total reported compensation
  • ERICA ASBURY (CFO): $35,854 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To assure the safety and resiliency of children by strengthening families and their communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Family Strengthening: Family Strengthening Services includes the First Steps program which provides home visiting services for pregnant women and families with children ages 0-3. First Steps promotes positive parenting and enhances child health and development for families who may face hardships and stressors that place them at increased risk for poor health and developmental outcomes. Our services are offered over the long term to prepare children to enter school as active learners, and ensure that all children are healthy, loved, and nurtured. Home Starts Communities in Action Program helps families move toward safety, empowerment, and connection by providing tools and increasing options for self-determination, financial independence, and healthy choices. Services include stabilization support, public benefits application assistance, workforce development, financial literacy, resident leadership academies, access to free tax assistance, education and cognitive development workshops, and healthy relationships workshops.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 74% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.6%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.3% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $9.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 15 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $207K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.