Arizona'S Children Association

“Directors jerry smith and kortney greene have a family relationship.”

“The review of form 990 is delegated by the board to the audit committee of arizona's children association prior to signature and filing. After the audit committee reviews and approves the form 990 a copy is provided to all board members prior to filing.”

“During new board member initiation, the conflict of interest policy is reviewed and a disclosure form listing any potential conflicts is completed. Annually, board members complete a disclosure form and sign an acknowledgment that they have received, read, understood, and will comply with the policy. Additionally, should a board member have a conflict of interest, the board member excuses him/herself from discussion and voting on the matter. The agency also has a conflict of interest policy for its employees which is read by each employee during new employee orientation and upon any changes in the policy. Additionally, an employee completes a conflict of interest policy which is maintained in his/her human resources file. Employees are periodically reminded to notify agency of any potential conflicts of interest.”

“A compensation sub-committee of the executive committee of the board evaluates the ceo annually against agreed upon performance goals and duties contained in a written job description. The sub-committee also utilizes the child welfare league of america's national compensation survey and other related national compensation surveys for like positions and responsibilities. The ceo makes a recommendation annually to the executive committee for compensation of the members of the organization's executive leadership team. The ceo evaluates the executive leadership team against agreed upon performance goals and duties contained in written job descriptions. The ceo also utilizes cwla compensation and other appropriate compensation surveys in the determination of compensation. The executive committee then either approves or modifies the ceo recommendation.”

“The organization publishes an annual report which contains the consolidated audited financial statements. The annual report is distributed to donors, volunteers, board members, and any other interested party upon request. The annual report is also published on the website. Governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available on request. Form 990 is available upon request, or at www.guidestar.org.”

“Behavioral health and specialty service programs provide a wide continuum of behavioral health services to children and families. Our strength-based services assist individuals and families in heightening social-emotional well-being and guiding those that have been impacted by trauma and abuse through the healing process. Programs provide support and intervention for children and their families to address current needs and strengthen the family unit. Outpatient services are designed to be a short term intervention that can assist in developing the skills and supports needed to increase independence and resiliency. We utilize the child and family team (cft) process, and incorporate the principles from the arizona vision. Services include intake assessments, case management, counselling, respite, skills training, peer support groups, family support services, behavioral management services, parenting support/training, school support, birth-5 services, and psychiatric services. Our trauma specialty services are for children and adults who have experienced sexual trauma in their lives. In addition to general trauma services, under the victims of crime act (voca) grant, we provide services to individuals and their families who are victims of sexual abuse, with or without insurance or with private insurance, at no cost to the individual. Our las familias program is the only one in pima county that specializes exclusively in the treatment of individuals and their families who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. We provide a safe place for survivors to gain strength, learn coping skills and develop trusting, caring relationships. We recognize that sexual abuse treatment is not just for the survivor, but for the entire family. This practice promotes healing, strength, trust, and the essential elements of a new beginning. 20,133 children, youth, adults, and family members benefited from one or more of our outpatient behavioral health services or trauma support services during fiscal year 2018/2019.”

“Child welfare programs seek to provide safe, healthy, and permanent homes for all children. We train and support foster care families who can open their hearts and homes to vulnerable children while their biological families are on the mend. We also collaborate with adoption placing agencies to provide a variety of adoption related services for those seeking to adopt internationally, privately and from the foster care system. 1,678 children in arizona's foster care system were provided loving foster homes, and 338 children were adopted during fiscal year 2018/2019. Our family preservation & reunification programs provide assistance to families in crisis referred by the department of child safety (dcs). We apply intensive intervention strategies to promote safety, health and overall well-being in order to strengthen families and reduce trauma and out-of-home removals. Team intervention efforts are utilized to protect children at risk of out of home placement due to abuse or neglect, by allowing the children to remain safely in their homes. The focus of the service is to improve the safety and well-being of families, enhance family functioning, increase competence in parenting abilities, foster a sense of self-sufficiency, reduce any risk factors, increase protective factors, and stabilize placements. When out-of-home removals cannot be avoided, these programs assist in working toward family reunification by developing realistic long-term solutions. 644 families received family preservation or family reunification services during fiscal year 2018/2019. In arizona, there are more than 160,000 children living in homes headed by grandparents or other relatives. Our kinship programs help support these very special families and their potential to provide a positive alternative to traditional foster care. Research indicates that children in kinship care experience greater stability than those in traditional foster care. Kinship caregivers provide love and support in a familiar setting, allowing children to remain connected with their families and communities. They are able to live with people they know and trust, thereby reinforcing their sense of cultural identity and well-being. Over 650 caregivers caring for over 1,041 relative children were provided information, resources, referrals and support during fiscal year 2018/2019. Young adult services are designed to aid foster care youth between the ages of 16 and 21 who have or will be transitioning out of arizona state or tribal foster care. We provide skills and support to youth and young adults in their transition into independence each year by assisting them in gaining skills for self-sufficiency. 1,129 current and former foster youth received support and services to assist with transitioning into adulthood, and 52 youth "aging out" of foster care were matched with mentors during fiscal year 2018/2019.”

“Prevention services are comprised of education, information and support programs. Research indicates that the early years are crucial to laying the foundation for children's life success. From classes for parents of newborns to workshops on early infant brain development, our programs help new and experienced parents and caregivers prepare their children for a successful future. Our parents as teachers program is an internationally recognized, strengths based and evidence-based parenting education and support program. Parents as teachers is a home visitation program designed to help new and experienced parents from pregnancy until their child enters kindergarten. Research indicates that the early years are crucial to laying the foundation for children's life successes. We believe that parents are their children's first and most influential teachers. Our family education & support services are a unique family resource dedicated to providing parents and caregivers with training and tools to promote the optimal development of every child from birth to adolescence. Our programs incorporate best practice and/or evidence-based opportunities for parents and children to learn and grow together. We offer all parents and caregivers information and support to increase their knowledge of child development and age appropriate behaviors, positive parenting skills and strategies, and the opportunity to build a network of parenting support. Over 2,658 parents and family members received training through our family education & support services during fiscal year 2018/2019.”