Stanford Sierra Youth & Families

Legal name: Stanford Youth Solutions Dba Stanford Sierra Youth & Families

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680065690
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sacramento, CA, US
Phone
(916) 344-0199
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Foster Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$30,668,245
Expenses
$29,802,134
Assets
$26,436,551
Liabilities
$4,807,114

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURA HEINTZ (CEO)
  • SHELLEY LAUREL (Past President)
  • DOUGLAS AGUIAR (Vice President)
  • GERALDINE JIMENEZ (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURA HEINTZ (CEO): $299,702 total reported compensation
  • JOVINA NEVES (CFO): $231,165 total reported compensation
  • DEBORAH BENNETT (CLINICAL DIRECTOR): $170,422 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 strengthen families and support youth in achieving their full potential through a continuum of services including foster care, adoption, mental health, and family support programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mip (mentor intership program) - the mip (mentored internship program) under ssyaf's career pathways provides students with practical experience and mentorship at various education stages. Mentors offer ongoing support, check-ins, and connections to resources. The mip project, integral to the internship, enhances satisfaction and outcomes, aiming to develop a diverse and skilled future behavioral health workforce. Empowerment training center - the empowerment training center (etc) is a workforce development program that is uniquely designed to strengthen skills and development of employees locally, statewide, and nationally. Ssyafs empowerment training center also provides training and support to individuals with lived experience who are on a path of recovery and are willing and able to assist others who are in earlier stages of the recovery process. These individuals viewpoints and experiences are included in the training, education, and support. Additionally, the empowerment training center includes wellness, recovery, and resiliency principles; instills hope; encourages self-leadership techniques; is culturally responsive; and includes a training model that ensures services are provided in the best interest of families and community.enhanced care management (ecm) is a new, voluntary benefit designed to connect children and teens with a wide range of essential services. These include medical, behavioral, dental, developmental, housing and food assistance, employment and educational support, health and wellness, social support, and more. Ecm coordinates these services to ensure youth get the right care at the right time, making it easier and less stressful for families to navigate the healthcare system. Available to both current and former clients, ecm provides the comprehensive care needed to support the overall well-being of children and teens.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 84% 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

STRONG - 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.6%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 81.5%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 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: 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: 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: 2.8%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 6 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 80.6% of revenue deployed · 81.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 13 filed program accomplishments · $24.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $300K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $872K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.