First Steps Kent

“The treasurer reviews the form 990 in detail. He then presents it to the executive committee for its in-depth review. It is then reviewed by the commission (board) and the finance committee before it is filed with the irs.”

“Board members and staff immediately disclose any potential conflicts of interest that arise. First steps has a form, accompanied by a copy of the policy, which is signed by each director/trustee/staff to acknowledge that the person has a) received a copy of the conflicts of interest policy, b) read and understands the policy, c) agreed to comply with the policy, and, d) understands that the organization is charitable and in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes. Employees and commission members are covered under the conflict of interest policy. The executive director and commission co-chair are identified in the policy by name with contact information in case someone wants to discuss a potential conflict of interest. Conflicts of interest are reviewed by the executive director, who may consult the employee's manager (or another manager). In the process restrictions are imposed on persons with a conflict. For example, an employee who is related to a vendor cannot request a bid, make the decision to go with the vendor, or be involved in any way with payment to the vendor. Commission members must abstain from voting on any item with which they have a conflict of interest.”

“The executive committee of the board of directors (commission) determines the compensation of the president/executive director. None of the members of the executive committee are employees of first steps kent. Comparable data from other similarly sized and situated local or regional nonprofits is gathered and analyzed. This information, along with the results of the annual performance evaluation is used to determine the president/executive director's compensation. The co-chairs of the commission prepare an evaluation document that is shared with each executive committee member for feedback. The co-chairs summarize and report back to the executive committee on the feedback, including their own, and discusses salary adjustment, bonus and/or enhanced pto in executive session. The executive committee comes to agreement and the co-chairs inform the president of the decision and gives a feedback report. There are no other officers or key employees in our organization. The formal compensation review process was last performed during fiscal year 2018.”

“Our audit and form 990 are on our website at https://www.firststepskent.org/about#financial-reports . Our governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available upon request.”

“In may 2020, the organization received $104,870 as a loan under the payroll protection program ("ppp") of the coronavirus aid, relief, and economic security act ("cares act"), which was enacted into law on march 28, 2020. The loan has a two year maturity and is subject to a 1.0% interest rate. As of september 30, 2020, $104,870 of this loan has been spent on eligible expenses and was fully forgiven on november 11, 2020. As such, the organization has recognized this amount spent as revenue on the form 990.”

“Other: program service expenses 310,036. Management and general expenses 54,084. Fundraising expenses 38,928. Total expenses 403,048.”

“During the tax year the audit oversight or selection process duties were moved from the executive committee to the finance committee.”