Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770269322
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Watsonville, CA, USA
Phone
8317286445
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,008,726
Expenses
$6,003,492
Assets
$8,224,758
Liabilities
$2,499,581

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JASMINE NAJERA (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JASMINE NAJERA (CEO): $186,312 total reported compensation
  • BEATRIZ COLLAZO (HR & ACCT MANAGER): $153,943 total reported compensation
  • AMANDA ENGELDRUM-MAGANA (CQO): $132,349 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Pajaro valley prevention and student assistance inc's mission is to improve the quality of life of the students and families of the pajaro valley by providing health education, counseling and prevention services, and by advocating for public policies that protect the health of our community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Pajaro Valley Prevention & Student Assistance (PVPSA) is a non-profit serving youth and families in the Pajaro Valley. The demographic area of service includes The City of Watsonville, North Monterey County, and Santa Cruz County. PVPSA continues providing school-based support which includes students in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) and Santa Cruz City Schools (SCCS). During fiscal year 2024-2025, our behavioral health team provided direct services either via behavioral health, substance use disorder services, or case management support to 1,151 unduplicated students providing over 19,520 contacts. Other school-based prevention services include cannabis and tobacco/vaping use education presentations in which 2,320 students participated in these presentations. In addition to providing school-based and individual direct services, PVPSA provides family-centered activities and community education through family engagement activities and psycho education presentations. During this fiscal year, we had 443 participants that engaged in at least one family-centered activity or educational workshop. PVPSA also supports families who have food insecurities to obtain access to nourishment by offering monthly food distributions. During this reporting year, there were 22 food distributions in Santa Cruz County, providing a total of 2640 families receiving food and 13 food distributions in Monterey County, providing a total of 1300 families receiving food. In total, across all programs, PVPSA served 1,594 individuals and made a total of 29,434 contacts.Although we hold many local, county, and governmental partnerships. Our biggest partnerships include Santa Cruz and Monterey County Behavioral Health Departments, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, the City of Watsonville and the County Office of Education.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 69% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: 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: 0.1%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.37; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.9% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $186K · 20 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.