Grace Smith House Inc.

“The organization revised its bylaws to update the term of office for a director which shall now be three (3) years calculated from the first april after the director is elected to board service, unless otherwise provided. Normally, one-third (1/3) of the directors shall be selected every three (3) years.”

“Grace smith house, inc. Has its form 990 prepared by an outside accounting firm and has established the following review process to ensure that the information reported is complete and accurate. When the form 990 has been prepared, reviewed by management and is ready to be filed with the internal revenue service, it is electronically sent to the board members of the organization for any comments. Any comments are then grouped, summarized and provided to the outside accountants. Each issue is documented and addressed until the return is finalized and approved for filing.”

“The conflict of interest policy is applicable to all board members and officers of the organization. After disclosure of the conflict of interest and all material facts, and after any discussion with the interested person, the board shall discuss the potential conflict of interest and vote upon whether to proceed with the transaction or agreement. An interested person shall not participate in or be permitted to hear the board's discussion on the potential conflict of interest. An interested person shall not vote on the issue or attempt to exert his or her personal influence with respect to the matter. An interested person's ineligibility to vote shall be reflected in the minutes of the board meeting. Annually all board members and officers shall sign a statement affirming that they have read and understood the organization's conflict of interest, and that any actual or potential conflicts have been disclosed.”

“Each job in the agency is assigned to a salary level. Within each level there is a minimum salary and a maximum salary. Once an employee reaches the maximum salary, the employee is no longer eligible to receive a salary increase. Exceptions for an employee who is paid outside the range must be approved by the personnel committee. The executive director and director of finance's salaries are determined by the executive committee and the chair of personnel committee. The salary is based on a review of comparable salaries in other agencies and on the annual performance evaluations. The board approves the salary of the executive director and the director of finance at the same time as the approval of the operating budget, and such approval is documented in the board minutes. This approval of salaries was last done in 2017 as an integrated component of the annual agency budget approval process.”

“The organization makes its form 990 available for public inspection as required under section 6104 of the internal revenue code. The return is posted on guidestar.org and other similar types of websites. In addition, the financial statements, articles of incorporation, form 990, form 1023, conflict of interest policy, and by-laws are also available upon written request or by calling the organization directly.”

“Founded in 1981, the mission of grace smith house is to enable individuals and families to live free from domestic violence. Grace smith house provides a comprehensive array of client centered, trauma informed services to victims of domestic violence in dutchess county, new york. Services include a 24/7/365 domestic violence crisis hotline; emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence totaling 25 beds; 15 transitional housing apartments, intensive case management, safety planning, goal setting, risk assessment, individual and group counseling; legal advocacy; criminal justice systems advocacy, housing advocacy, court advocacy and accompaniment; embedded domestic violence liaisons at child protective services and center for child abuse prevention; children's services & programming, specialized services to latina victims, immigration assistance, outreach efforts to the community, and our prevention and education program for teen dating violence awareness and prevention. In 2017 grace smith house answered 1,874 hotline calls; assisted with the filing of 1,248 orders of protections and violations on those orders in family court; sheltered 96 adults and 72 children; housed 18 families in transitional housing; provided advocacy and accompanied 220 adults in our court advocacy program; provided services to 311 victims by our child protective services domestic violence liaisons; conducted 200 adult support groups and 184 children's groups; provided 718 therapeutic counseling sessions; and reached over 8,462 students and 289 school administrators with teen dating violence prevention information. Over 290 requests for shelter were denied due to capacity issues. All of our services are free and confidential. Program services are provided to all victims of domestic violence regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, gender, religion, age, or sexual orientation.”

“The mission of grace smith house, inc. Is to enable individuals and families to live free from domestic violence by: -providing shelter and apartments, advocacy, counseling and education -raising the consciousness of the community regarding the extent, type and seriousness of domestic violence -initiating and taking positions on public policies in order to provide options which empower victims of domestic violence”

“The organization has an audit and finance committee that assumes responsibility for oversight of the audit of its financial statements and selection of an independent accountant. This process did not change from the prior year.”