Washburn Center for Children

What it reported doing in 2025

A commitment to treatment and trainingWashburn Center for Children (Washburn Center) is a critical community resource providing compassionate therapeutic care to children and families, as well as training clinical professionals who work with children nationally. Founded in 1883, families in the community have come to Washburn Center for over 140 years to help children thrive at home, in school and in the community. Washburn Center nurtures every child and family's well-being and full potential through transformative children's mental health care. Washburn Center for Children leads Minnesota in child-centered mental health care with a broad and deep spectrum of outpatient services across the continuum of care. The mental health care kids receive at Washburn Center is a safety-net. Community-based mental health care is for all kids and families who need us, period.As an agency, Washburn is balancing community needs that are ever-evolving, financial sustainability and taking care of our staff so they develop and grow - sustaining this mission for this generation of children and those to come. In 2025, our therapists met with 4,013 children (5,397 duplicated) for 100,071 hours of therapy in family homes, schools, hospitals, and community centers. This represents 8.8% more children than 2024 - a clear reflection of the increased community need that is impacted by societal changes, community violence, and changing availability of resources. In 2025, 27% of the children we served relied on more than one Washburn Center service. With our full continuum of care, Washburn Center serves children ages birth to 18, with an average of 47% between ages 6 to 11, who live in the Twin Cities and surrounding counties, and 63% of families served qualify for some form of financial support.Children and their families are served in three office locations - Brooklyn Park, Edina and Minneapolis - as well as in-home, in more than 60 partner schools, in more than 30 hospitals and clinics, and in our communities. Washburn Center has more than 120 community-based therapists driving into neighborhoods, sitting in homes and meeting families where they are.Comprehensive and evidence-based children's mental health services include assessment, evaluation, individual and family therapy, psychological evaluations, psychiatry, and care coordination. Services are designed to develop skills, navigate social, emotional and behavioral development as well as connect families with resources to help children reach their full potential. In addition to comprehensive therapeutic services, Washburn Center's Training Institute is a national leader in training mental health professionals in trauma-informed, evidence-based practices. In-house and online training is offered to clinicians, interns, and allied professionals to ensure children receive the best quality care. Since its inception, the Training Institute has provided over 125,000 hours of training and consultation to 8,243 professionals nationally and internationally so that children can receive high quality mental health care. Additionally, the agency trains about 50 undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students annually.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 96.2%; rating input score 96
• Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
• Fundraising efficiency: $9.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • 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: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 25th 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: -12.3%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.96; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings