Bridgeway House

“For tax year 2018, the form 990 will be reviewed by executive director, patricia wigney; finance manager, phoebe blume; and the finance committee. Members of the finance committee include mark cummings, board president; mark neil harvey, director; and troy reichenberger, finance committee member (not on board, but serves on committee as of 2019).”

“All transactions involving conflicts of interest must be presented to the board for approval. Directors and officers who have a conflict of interest in any matter must: 1) declare the existence of any direct or indirect conflict of interest 2) disclose its nature on the record, and 3) abstain from voting on that matter the rest of the board must analyze the transaction and ensure that all transactions involving a conflict of interest are fair to the corporation and that no special benefits are being given to any person. A conflict of interest transaction must be approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the board of directors who do not have a conflict of interest involved in that issue, as long as no less than two disinterested directors vote to approve the transaction.”

“Through research and study comparing wages of other non-profit executive directors to that of bridgeway house, the board can help determine salary. However, budget and financials dictate if any realistic change can be made. Change in salary must be approved by the board before implemented. No change occurred in 2018 to the executive director's salary.”

“All governing documents and financial statements are available upon request. The board bylaws and other official protocol documents have been drawn up and approved by attorney david atkins. The bylaws may be reviewed by the public.”

“Bridgeway house offers treatments, developmental therapies, enrichment courses, and support for children and families experiencing autism and related abilities, regardless of income. This includes, in-home therapy, dietary programs, intensive classroom-based schooling and integrative social and support groups for children and families affected by autism in oregon.”

“Bridgeway house school - approximately ten years ago, bridgeway house built a school program for one student who needed individualized instruction. The student was struggling in public school, and the child's current school district placed the student with bridgeway house. This was the inception of the bridgeway house school program. It has grown rapidly, and is by far the agency's largest program incurring the most expense and generating the most revenue annually. The school had 79 students at the end of 2018. Of those, 60 were district placed and 19 were privately placed. The school had 9 classrooms in 2018. The upper camp creek location housed 5 classrooms. The downtown eugene location housed an additional 4 classrooms for students for whom a more transitional, community-based curriculum has been designed. The school program is staff-heavy and incurs the highest agency expenses, primarily in payroll.”

“Treatment services - bridgeway house provides comprehensive evaluations and in-home therapeutic treatment programs for children and families affected by autism. The cost of these services are out of reach for many clients so scholarships are offered using a sliding scale (using the hud scale as well as a thorough application process) dependent upon each family's need. Early intensive behavior therapies and whole family involvement offer the brightest possible outcomes for clients and their families. The agency's aba/early intervention program continues to grow as demand increases and resources for this therapy are limited in the community. Most insurance companies are now accepted for aba, speech, and some of the occupational therapy offered. Even a few social group participants are able to be billed under insurance.”

“Social groups bridgeway house offers social groups during after-school hours to help students learn social skills and emotional self-regulation through integrated teaching and support with emphasis on building lasting connections and friendships between students. Special interest social groups, such as the ever popular minecraft social group, have also been developed to bring students together. These groups allow students to communicate and deepen friendships over their shared passions. Most families participating in the social groups program receive a scholarship and the staffing is relatively heavy. Grants are written annually to help cover those scholarships and program expenses. Along with specific social groups, there are also summer camps offered from june through august and game nights most friday evenings during the academic year. The social group program follows curriculum which helps children and young adults create lasting social bonds in a safe low-sensory environment, while under the guidance of trained facilitators. Other services offered that fall under the social groups program are shape (sexual health and personal exploration), the annual play production, holiday family events, and the teen dances.”

“Information resources bridgeway house offers a comprehensive website with autism faqs, an event and class calendar and links to other resources on the web. The website connects families in need of assistance with existing community resources using the internet. The website is often the first contact our clients have with our services, and provides anonymous information regarding autism and related services to the community at large at no cost to the user. Additionally, bridgeway house offers a parent support group consisting of 11-week courses, 3 times/year. Free childcare is available, and the group is also no-cost.”

“Line 8 - prior period adjustments during the preparation of the 2018 990, math errors and incorrect journal entries were discovered. Adjustments to prior closed years were made during 2019 which impacted the beginning balance of fy 2018. The adjustments were performed by a recently-terminated employee who made mistakes in applying accounting principles.”