Youth First

What it reported doing in 2024

Youth first operates a comprehensive student assistance program that transforms school systems into mental health safety nets, bypassing community waitlists and removing barriers to care. We achieve this by embedding highly trained, master's-level mental health professionals directly within school buildings to deliver an evidence-based, multi-tiered system of support. During the 2024 to 2025 academic year, youth first partnered with 119 public, private, and charter schools across 14 Indiana counties (daviess, dubois, gibson, greene, knox, lawrence, martin, morgan, orange, perry, posey, spencer, vanderburgh, and warrick). This footprint ensured that 53,510 k-12 students had daily access to professional mental health support. At the universal prevention level, youth first provides school-wide educational presentations designed to build foundational coping skills and resilience. For students requiring selective intervention, our mental health professionals lead evidence-based small groups that provide targeted support to youth with an elevated risk of substance misuse while building social and communication skills. Participants demonstrate measurable outcomes, including reduced binge drinking, reduced marijuana and e- cigarette use, improved mood and stress management, stronger school connection, and decreased truancy. At the indicated level, our mental health professionals provide intensive, individualized casework to highly at-risk students through ongoing one-on- one and family sessions. Many of these youth face complex challenges, including abuse history, family substance misuse, or suicide risk. Independent evaluations confirm statistically significant improvements in students' school adjustment, resilience, and mood management, alongside a decrease in problematic behaviors and the intensity of individual concerns. In the broader community, youth first deploys social marketing campaigns that generate millions of digital and outdoor media impressions. By sharing ongoing prevention content through our website, social media channels, and regional newspapers, we normalize help-seeking behaviors and reinforce resilience messaging that strengthens the entire youth ecosystem. To sustain these improvements at home, youth first engages parents and caregivers through consultations and community education to strengthen family connections and promote healthier, more supportive home environments for youth. Youth first recognizes that student mental health is one of the greatest pressures facing school leaders and teachers. To address this, we provide ongoing consultations that equip educators with trauma-informed strategies to navigate classroom challenges and better support student learning. In addition to daily one-on-one consultations, we provide ongoing professional development to teachers and school faculty throughout the academic year, delivering training on suicide prevention (qpr), trauma-informed practices, grief support, mandated reporting, and educator self-care and stress management. By empowering educators with behavioral and crisis response tools, youth first helps schools identify struggling students early and intervene quickly while enabling teachers to reclaim instructional time that might otherwise be lost to discipline and classroom disruptions. Outcomes remain highly positive, with the vast majority of faculty reporting that a youth first partnership benefits their school. Measurable outcomes continue to demonstrate statistically significant improvements in student well-being, including stronger attendance, increased classroom participation, and reduced behaviors such as aggression and poor attention spans.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 89.8%; rating input score 90
• Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
• Fundraising efficiency: $4.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

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: Limited
• 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: 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: -7.5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings