Covenant House

“The form 990 is prepared by a nationally renowned accounting firm in conjunction with the organization's financial department. A copy of the draft form 990 is presented to the audit committee of the board and once approved; it is distributed to the entire board prior to its filing with the internal revenue service.”

“The organization requires annual disclosure and affirmation of the conflict of interest policy by all officers, directors and key employees, which is monitored annually by the board's audit committee. The disclosure statement required each officer, director, and key employee to disclose any business or personal interests, direct or indirect, that the person may have in an organization that completes with or does business with covenant house international (chi) or any other organization business/ agency affiliated with chi. If a conflict is determined to exist, it must be reported and addressed to the satisfaction of the organization. Any other person having a conflict, and attending said meeting, shall retire from the room in which the board or committee is meeting and shall not participate in the final deliberations or decisions regarding the matter under consideration. Any interested director shall also abstain during such vote. The minutes of the meeting of the board or committee shall reflect that the conflict of interest was disclosed and that the interested person was not present during the final discussion or vote and did not vote.”

“The president/ceo's, other officers', and key employees' compensation are determined by the executive committee acting as the compensation committee working in conjunction with comparability data such as salary surveys with similarly sized non-profits. Periodically the organization hires an independent consultant to review comparable salaries for the president/ceo, other officers and key employees. Generally the board evaluates compensation annually. The determination is based on the performance evaluation that factors into account effectiveness, performance, and achievement of goals. Records of executive committee's compensation decisions are written by the board chair and maintained in the president's folder - human resources department record. This process was last undertaken in fiscal year 2016.”

“Covenant house makes its form 990 available for public inspection upon request and on the organization's website www.covenanthouse.org. Covenant house makes its form 1023, governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statments available for public inspection upon request and at management's discretion.”

“Covenant house is the parent organization of twenty-eight affiliated organizations which operate childcare programs in six countries. Covenant house has affiliated programs in alaska, california, florida, georgia, louisiana, michigan, missouri, new jersey, new york, pennsylvania, texas, and washington, d.c. In the united states and in toronto, ontario and vancouver, british columbia in canada. In addition, covenant house has affiliated organizations operating in guatemala, honduras, nicaragua, and mexico. During fiscal year 2016, 46,183 youth received services from one or more covenant house programs. When covenant house was incorporated in new york in 1972, its primary focus was on getting young people off the streets, where they were being drawn into drugs and prostitution, and into the safety of the crisis shelters where possibly they could be reunited with their family or relatives. Covenant house international recognizes that safety is a key component in a therapeutic community and foundational to social work practice. In response to the safety needs of our youth, chi has established child protection committee charged with creating a common core of safety practices designed to reduce risk. The committee process is driven by the needs of the youth we serve, our mission, and our programs. The safety model's conceptual framework views risk management as an interaction among specific safety concerns, the vulnerabilities of at-risk youth, and the administration's capacity to shelter and protect youth proactively and respond to incidents quickly. The child protection system is an articulation that we will serve youth in a secure environment and that we will hold ourselves accountable for their safety. Youth come to us in states of crisis and providing them with a safe environment in which to heal is a fundamental part of our response to trauma and an essential practice in our field. As the agency dealt with more and more young people and opened covenant houses across the country and in canada and latin america, it became evident that these young people not only needed crisis care but a whole array of services if they were to successfully leave the streets. Today, the agency has a comprehensive set of programs that provide a full range of services to homeless and at-risk young people.”

“Covenant house recorded a $1,810,827 defined benefit ('db') plan net periodic pension cost expense in fy2016, of which $1,298,467 was related to our us affiliates. This was primarily due to falling interest rates and increased life expectancy. Covenant house indefinitely froze service credits in the db pension plan, effective december 31, 2006.”

“Pension related activities -4,866,444. Change in value of split interest agreements -421,448. Change in value of beneficial interest in trust 100,430. Write-off of uncollectible revenues -161,738.”

“The process for selecting an independent accountant and establishing a committee that assumes responsibility for oversight of the audit has not changed from prior years.”