Youth on Their Own

What it reported doing in 2024

The mission of yoto is to support the high school graduation and continued success of youth experiencing homelessness in pima county. Services are designed to help meet youth's basic needs so they can focus less on their housing instability or food insecurity and more on in-school success. Guidance counselors and social workers within 100+ area schools volunteer their time to serve as "yoto liaisons" to identify potential homeless students, help them enroll in yoto, and provide additional support to them throughout the year. Services available to yoto program participants at no cost, include: o academic stipends (up to 350/month) based on level of need and school attendance; flexible stipends (e.g., basic needs funding); graduation awards; scholarships. O basic needs material support (e.g., hygiene supplies, shelf-stable food, school supplies, etc.) via the yoto mini-mall and other personal needs (e.g., dental cleanings, haircut vouchers, etc.). O transportation assistance (e.g., uber health rides and taxi fares). O ongoing academic support, including college and career guidance. O referrals to community partners for housing, healthcare, and other unmet needs. By providing access to financial assistance, basic needs items, and one- on-one guidance, yoto gives youth who are experiencing homelessness the tools and support they need to graduate from high school and reach their goals. Unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness depend on school-based supports (teachers/counselors, tutoring, breakfast/lunch services, etc.) and social networks (friends, coaches, teammates, etc.) for positive emotional support, consistency, and temporary housing connections. Accomplishments in our three largest program service areas include: youth financial assistance: high school students can earn a monthly stipend of up to 350 to incentivize school participation and attendance. Youth in the most unstable situations (those who are living in their car, parenting, etc.) can earn the highest stipend amount of 350. To receive a stipend, students must meet school attendance requirements. In 2024-2025, 1,128,250 was invested in youth academic financial assistance. In addition, youth who were facing eviction or street homelessness earned 38,835 through our direct cash transfers as prevention(dct-p) program. Basic needs: yoto youth are provided access to free basic needs such as food, clothing, hygiene items, and school supplies at the yoto mini-mall. Uber health rides and taxi rides are also provided to eliminate transportation barriers for students attending yoto workshops, school, and work. In 2024-2025, yoto youth visited the on-site mini mall 3,005 times and yoto distributed 179,643 basic needs items to program participants. In addition, yoto distributed, 174 cap and gown stipends, 32 dental services through a partnership with martin taylor dentistry, 112 haircut vouchers, 22 new home kits through a partnership with viva pima, 177 uber and taxi rides, 19 donated bikes through el tour de tucson and 39 laptops. Ongoing partnerships in fy25 enabled yoto to provide 11 gender affirming products to trans yoto youth (partnership with validusa), 798 fresh meal kits (partnership with the tucson family food project), 2,056 1-gallon bags of pet food (partnership with cody's friends), and 1,987 pairs of socks (partnership with bombas). Guidance: because yoto youth are on their own, they often lack the support and guidance that comes from a caring parent. Yoto provides one-on-one guidance, encouragement, college and career assistance, and connections to other services in the community. In addition, yoto serves as an advocate for young people when they need support navigating services and systems. Yoto's schools program coordinators are vital to youth engagement in services and helping students stay in school. Alumni program coordinators provide workshops to support youth's post-secondary plans. In fy25, 62 youth participated in a fafsa workshop, 20 youth attended

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 54%; rating input score 54
• Program expense ratio: 79.2%; rating input score 79
• Fundraising efficiency: $11.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Missing
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 40th 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: 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: 38.2%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.81; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings