United Way of Coastal Fairfield County Inc

What it reported doing in 2022

Uwcfc helps improve lives by tackling the most pressing issues in a community. We work with community partners to identify key problems and understand their causes. Then, we collaborate with other change agents-from neighborhood leaders to businesses, non-profits, and advocates-to design innovative approaches that empower people to change the course of their lives. Last year, we worked with more than 100 community partners and 1400 volunteers to improve outcomes in our three focus areas: health and wellness, school and career readiness, and financial stability.1. Improving health and well-beingbecause life expectancy in our service area can vary up to 19 years, our united way works to promote health and well-being across the lifespan. We start early-because a child's health depends on mom's-by focusing on maternal health. Our bridgeport prospers team has worked to plan, fund, and implement two key initiatives to improve outcomes: (a) doula care for expectant moms. This benefits both moms and babies, resulting in fewer cesareans, more full-term births, healthier birthweights, and increased likelihood of breastfeeding. Doula support is particularly important for african american moms (who are 3-4 times more likely to die from childbirth complications than their caucasian peers) and their babies (who are nearly twice as likely to die in their first year).(b) home visits for all new families. Home visits provide post-partum health exams for all parents and babies, and they connect new parents to any additional needed services in the community. Research shows that home visiting reduces family anxiety (-28%), emergency room care (-50%), and referrals to child welfare agencies like the department of children & families (-44%). This coordinated, systemic approach has been lauded as "a model for the state of Connecticut." we also promote the healthy development of young children, since 80% of a child's brain growth happens in the first three years of life. We equip parents with tools to track and promote their child's development, such as developmental screenings and the basics parenting practices (provided to 3500 families in bridgeport and norwalk last year). Given the mental health crisis in the us, we promote emotional health and wellness by working on 2 key paths: (1) direct funding of local mental health supports for a range of age groups, for example, an afterschool baseball program from underserved youth, training in suicide prevention for high school students, and peer groups for adults and refugees; (2) financial support for the bridgeport prospers resilience initiative, which works to raise awareness of trauma's life-limiting impact and to promote mental health and resilience.2. Improving school success and career readinessconnecticut's children face one of our country's largest academic achievement gaps (the disparity in student performance by income and race/ethnicity). According to harvard university, the gap begins by age 2 (achievement gap initiative). Closing this gap takes the collective efforts of partners in all sectors, working on key inflection points in a child's life.that's why our united way invests in collective impact movements in our two largest cities: bridgeport and norwalk. These movements-bridgeport prospers and norwalk acts-engage partners to improve outcomes for all children, from cradle to career. They aim to ensure infant health, school readiness, academic success, high school graduation, and preparedness for college or workforce. Uwcfc also focuses specifically on promoting early language and literacy development. Research shows that language and literacy develop together from birth, starting with interactions between parents and babies. Later reading proficiency requires access to books, but 2/3 of low-income children have no age-appropriate books at home. And data show that reading on-level by the end of third grade correlates with school success; in fact, students not meeting this benchmark are 4

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 93.2%; rating input score 93
• Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
• Fundraising efficiency: $6.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • 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: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • 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: -25.3%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -9.3% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -8.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -8.7% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings