Community Action Council of Howard

“The head start policy council appoints one member to serve on the cac board of directors.”

“The form 990 is initially reviewed by the audit and finance committee and then presented to the full board of directors for their review and approval prior to submission to the irs.”

“At the beginning of each fiscal year, all current board members and management staff sign a conflict of interest disclosure statement. This requires disclosure of any organizations in which they or immediate family members have a material interest and from which cac secures any goods or services. Covered individuals must also disclose any actual, apparent, or potential conflicts of interest. New board members complete this form upon joining, and all board members disclose conflicts at each full board meeting.”

“The organization follows a documented and board-approved process to establish the compensation of its president. Compensation is determined through a review of comparable salary data obtained from independent surveys of similarly sized nonprofit organizations. The governing body or its authorized committee reviews the comparative data and approves compensation to ensure it is reasonable, appropriate, and aligned with the organization's mission and financial stewardship responsibilities. The most recent salary survey review was conducted in june 2023.”

“The organization's governing documents, including its articles of incorporation, bylaws, and form 990, are made available to the public upon request in accordance with applicable federal and state transparency requirements.”

“The community action council of howard county (cac) seeks to diminish poverty and enable self-sufficiency for all howard county individuals, families, and children in need through housing assistance, food assistance, energy assistance, weatherization assistance, early childhood education. Cac continuously assesses community needs and plans strategically to meet those needs.”

“Early childhood education: cac provides full-day, full-year early childhood education programming to children birth-to-five years old. The program includes early head start, head start preschool and msde pre-k programming and provides academic and developmental intervention services as needed. Cac uses a 2-generational approach focusing on the children and family in a holistic manner by pairing access to quality early childhood education with opportunities for the family to focus on long-term self-sufficiency goals such as education and employment. Cac maximizes its resources and supports the family using a person-centered case management approach to generate positive outcomes in the self-sufficiency of the family. Children in the program receive breakfast, lunch, and a snack daily. The program is accredited by the national association for the education of young children and by the maryland state department of education, as well as licensed by the maryland office of child care. In fy 2025, only 24 of the 253 total licensed childcare programs in howard county were rated at the highest level of the maryland excels. Four of cac's early childhood education centers are among the 24 that received the highest ranking, with the fifth and newest center on track to do so by the end of 2026.”

“For energy cac provides income-eligible homeowners and renters with utility bill assistance to avoid utility termination and to help them get utilities turned back on after the are shut-off. In fiscal year 2025, cac received 7,105 applications for energy assistance from howard county households. A total of 3032 households were approved and 2,229,958 was provided in energy assistance to 2372 howard county households. For housing cac offers housing assistance to income eligible howard county families, including eviction prevention, first month's rent, and assistance with owed back rent. In fiscal year 2025 cac received 351 applications for housing assistance from howard county households. A total of 219 applications were approved and 405,195 was provided in housing assistance to 202 howard county households.”

“Food assistance: food bank: the howard county food bank is the hunger relief program of cac. The food bank provided 22,512 services in howard county, distributed 1,021,1554 meals, and down streamed food to 11 partner pantries in 2025. The pantries function as an arm of the food bank that reach clients in their immediate community. They are located in faith-based organizations, foundations, county entities, and in schools across the county. The delivery program provided 1,094 food deliveries to the county's homebound residents. Eligibility for food assistance is based on income and residency. The primary sources of food come from donations from individuals, community groups, and local grocery stores.”

“Special events expense 51,644 special events expense -51,644”