Dr. Jeremy Kohomban talks about what this not-for-profit has done to remain financially stablein a struggling industry.

During a time when many not-for-profits are struggling to stay afloat due to financial hardships, The Children’s Village (CV) has remained financially stable and successful. This is no small feat, considering that the child welfare system in New York City has also been under significant stress. “Many sister not-for-profit agencies in the New York market struggled, and some ended up closing their doors,” explained Dr. Jeremy Kohomban, president and CEO of the Dobbs Ferry, NY organization. “We make financial stability and programmatic efficacy a priority in this organization.”

Dr. Jeremy Kohomban, President and CEO

Feet to the fire
Two factors have played an important role in the financial success of 155-year-old CV. The first is its board of trustees. “Our trustees are committed to managing this charitable institution with transparency, bottom-line efficiency, and results,” said the chief executive.

For example, although some of the regulations can be onerous for a nonprofit, CV meets all 20 standards established by the Better Business Bureau for charitable giving. “The trustees also helped us raise charitable donations that have so far exceeded the monies we’ve raised in prior years. And each year, we’ve grown our private charitable dollars.”

The other factor Kohomban has focused on to achieve financial excellence is a conscious diversification of funding sources. In prior years, more than 75% of CV’s revenue came from programs on its large residential campus. This was dangerous because the child welfare field is changing, and residential programs are being reduced. Today, almost 50% of the organization’s budget comes from community-passed programs that emphasize prevention and family support.

“We’ve done everything from helping a parent get into an apartment to helping families get into safer neighborhoods. We’ve also helped pay for security deposits, private tutors, emergency food, furniture, and medicine,” Kohomban said. “In addition to good business, it’s good for our clients and our staff, who enjoy helping families in concrete ways.” Some of these direct investments were made by reducing administrative overhead and reinvesting those dollars directly into areas of family support.

Budget dashboard
CV has a rigorous program in place for monitoring its budget. By the 10th of each month, the vice president of finance and administration distributes a dashboard of the budget by program area. The dashboard enables the executive team to identify where revenue shortfalls and expense averages are occurring to optimize decisionmaking.

The group meets to discuss any issues and take the necessary corrective actions. The budget committee reviews the dashboard quarterly and approves any major corrective actions. Manage-ment and staff receive monthly budget-to-actual reports so management decisions can be made at all levels.

“On the dashboard, all the areas that need to be watched are on one page. People in nonprofit industries often don’t have the capital to invest in high-powered technology, and sometimes we overlook important issues because not everything is at our fingertips. The dashboard has helped us take a lot of the paper and consolidate it into one electronic form. On any given day, I have a clear idea of where we stand financially,” Kohomban said.

Daily rewards
Another reason CV remains financially strong is that its programs meet a real need. The organization treats children typically referred to residential care directly from foster homes, psychiatric hospitals, the Department of Education, the Department of Mental Health, and the juvenile justice system. “Children are referred to residential care only after all attempts to maintain them safely in the community have been exhausted,” Kohomban said. “Educational failure, abuse, neglect, fear, anger, gang activity, oppositional behavior, depression, mental illness, and police involvement are common themes among foster children referred to our campus.”

Residential care at CV is a structured educational model that provides safety, pro-social training, and mental health support. The organization creates an effective teaching environment that prepares the child for daily living in the real world. “We are pro-family and committed to the belief that family is central to any successful treatment. In cases where viable family is unavailable, a critical component of our treatment is to create or find at least one permanent, stable and appropriate adult for each child,” Kohomban said.

When a child is discharged from the campus, CV provides a full year of post-discharge service to ensure that the family maintains the gains made during residential treatment.

CV has created several innovative programs, including one developed in conjunction with the juvenile justice system to help young men with chronic substance abuse problems. The first half of the day is classroom education; the second half is a substance abuse treatment program that CV operates in partnership with St. Vincent’s Hospital. “This approach is unique in the field,” Kohomban said. “We have quarterly honor roll recognition on campus, and I’m pleased to say we had eight boys from this program that made it onto the honor roll. It proves to me this is a program that is working and making a difference.”

CV operates another unique program for the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Thousands of children come to the US unaccompanied; many are brought here against their will, according to Kohomban.

Every year, the immigration and customs enforcement office picks up 5,000 to 6,000 of these children. CV works with them to provide a shelter as well as legal representation to help them move in with a family member that’s already here or get them home if they want to go back. “Helping children and their families is an incredibly rewarding experience, and we have the opportunity to do it every day,” said Kohomban.