Let's Get Honest! Absolutely Uncommon Analysis of Family & Conciliation Courts' Operations, Practices, & History

CHILD SUPPORT SWEEPING CHANGES AHEAD – “IMAGINE THE FUTURE” (PLENARY SESSION #1);

Plenary 1

Imagine the Future

1. There is a wind sweeping across this nation in the child support community. New directions and new ideas are being explored as the OCSE Commissioner leads the charge to think creatively, unimpeded by conventional constraints—blue sky thinking! This exciting session— the start of our annual training conference—will put everyone on notice that child support, as we know it, is changing.

(Nice to announce this to the families receiving child support . . . . ..)

and

Plenary 3

Closing Plenary – Understanding the Role of Father Involvement in the Lives of Children Can Provide Significant Information to Public Policy Initiatives

Dr. Hillard Pouncy will share studies that examine the nature of father involvement in family life among unmarried couples.

 

The child support professionals deal with these couples and probably know quite a bit from talking to them.  There are, actually, in most counties, literal brick and mortar child support offices where mother and father can (alternately) come in and plead their causes — “reduce my support, return my license — or collect that support, and here’s where we found Dad was working….”     However, of course’s helpful to have a true fatherhood professional put the right spin on it.

What, REALLY, is all this hoopla about?  Why did this organization pop up right after a District Attorney’s office in Southern California got caught red-handed sitting on millions of $$ of money that should’ve been forward to the parents — or returned to the payor parent?

I am still wondering why county employees (which Child Support Directors are, and usually well paid, too) would need their own nonprofit organization for as well?

In looking at the 2010 990 filing of this one — they are very unusual in actually raising quite a bit of program service revenues.   Around $603K grants, and around $433K “program Service Revenue.”

Which turns out to be primarily the conferences.   The 2011 is priced at $425 for the entire conference, or $200 for a single day (regular price).

As we note it’s a conference AND “Expo” so I presume some other materials were also for sale during the conference.

The Child Support Directors Association (see my last, obnoxiously long, post) was indeed registered in California as a Corporation around the turn of the millennium, (or was it about  decade earlier, when it came to tax-exempt fundraising?)

Results of search for ” CHILD SUPPORT DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION ” returned 1 entity record.

(From the California Secretary of State).  Funny,

“Corporation Wiki” doesn’t connect Mr. Oppenheim  to any organization whatsoever.  It recognizes the President, Iliana Rodriguez

In looking up when this nonprofit registered as a “Charity” (as well as obviously a nonprofit) with the Office of Attorney General — as it is required to — I made a suprising discovery that this association is quite active in raffle tickets as fundraising; and its registry of raffle tickets show how much was raised, and to what other charity the funds went, when not to CSDA itself.  As witnessed by this – I’m just showing one page out of 4 in the search results:

– – – – – –

This page is from the first hyperlink, above (“Charity” – Exempt, Active – Charity Registration):

Their website indicates incorporation as a nonprofit around 2002, as does the Secretary of State registration.  If anyone can then explain to me this issue date of 1990, please?

Registrant Information

Full Name: CHILD SUPPORT DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION FEIN: 680450141 Type: Mutual Benefit Corporate or Organization Number: 2211149

Registration Number: EX552080 Record Type: Charity Registration Type: Charity Registration Issue Date: 12/31/1990 Renewal Due Date: 5/15/1991 Registration Status: Exempt – Active Date This Status: Date of Last Renewal:

Address Information

Address Line 1: 925 L STREET Phone: Address Line 2: Address Line 3: Address Line 4: SACRAMENTO CA 95814

Annual Renewal Information

Related Documents

No Related Documents

Prerequisite Information

No Prerequisite Information

IRS Return Data19

– – – – – – –

FOr example, a raffle costing nothing to do, begun around November 2005, raised a total of about $12,000 for this group:

This time, no — but some other raffle proceeds go elsewhere; often to a Children’s Fund of one sort or another, for example::

This appears to be part of a County itself:

A long list of functions (including “Family Resource Centers” — see my Footloose in Tuscaloosa post…)

on the left side includes “The Children’s Fund.”:  (the Circular logo to right  – adult and child inside olive crescent) is the “Children and Family Services” logo.  Everyone gets a nice logo. …and motto

“Children’s Fund History

The Children’s Fund began in 1973 as a “grass roots” effort by social workers to assist foster children and other children in San Mateo County. They wanted to provide goods and services that were not available through public funds. The Children’s Fund benefits children and teens being served by the County of San Mateo’s Human Services Agency, probation and mental health departments, as well as any children living in poverty throughout San Mateo County.”

Basically raffles are like the lottery and are a form of gambling — but certain nonprofits can do this.  As the California code reads:

(c) For purposes of this section, “eligible organization” means a private, nonprofit organization that has been qualified to conduct business in California for at least one year prior to conducting a raffle and is exempt from taxation pursuant to Sections 23701a, 23701b, 23701d, 23701e, 23701f, 23701g, 23701k, 23701l, 23701t, or 23701w of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

Secretary of State would show the incorporation record.  But under the DOJ / Attorney General’s Offices is more information about charities etc.:

Secretary of State or Franchise Tax Board Number – Organizations that are incorporated in California are assigned a corporate number by the Secretary of State’s office upon approval of the filing of their articles of incorporation. Organizations that are not incorporated but are required to register and report to the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts (Registry), such as unincorporated associations and charitable trusts, are assigned an organization number by the Franchise Tax Board. Either of these numbers can be used to search the Registry files for information about a specific organization.

State Charity Registration Number – Once an organization registers with the Registry, it is assigned a registration number (also called a “CT Number”). If you know the registration number, you may enter it in the search criteria.

The CT number for this group is: 2211149 and the EIN# 680450141

They have to register for running raffles annually.

If one were to click on ALL of those raffle reports above, to the Children’s Fund in San Mateo County, amounts could range anywhere from $19 to a few thousand.  I decided to use the same registry to look up the Children’s Fund, and found this:

Organization Name	Registration Number	Record Type	Registration Status	City	State	Registration Type	Record Type
THE CHILDREN’S FUND FOR THE PRESERVATION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES		Charity	Not Registered	SAN MATEO	CA	Charity Registration	Charity
THE CHILDREN’S FUND OF SAN BERNARDINO	100979	Charity	Delinquent	SAN BERNARDINO	CA	Charity Registration	Charity
1

The second one is apparently the same one that CSDA is raising money for, and I hope they finish registering properly, as they are doing quite a bit of business yearly.  They are at the same address, with “Rebecca Stafford, Executive Director” which is how I made the connection:

Registrant Information

Full Name: CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED FEIN: 330193286 Type: Public Benefit Corporate or Organization Number: 1383946

Registration Number: 062080 Record Type: Charity Registration Type: Charity Registration Issue Date: 6/30/2006 Renewal Due Date: 11/15/2011 Registration Status: Current Date This Status: 11/13/2007 Date of Last Renewal: 1/14/2011

Address Information

Address Line 1: 825 E HOSPITALITY LN 2ND FL Phone: Address Line 2: Address Line 3: Address Line 4: SAN BERNERDINO CA 92415

Annual Renewal Information

Fiscal Begin: 01-JUL-01 Fiscal End: 30-JUN-02 Total Assets: $2,210,576.00 Gross Annual Revenue: $2,572,683.00 RRF Received: 18-FEB-03 Returned Date: 990 Attached: Y Status: Accepted

THey are filing 990s and Founding Documents show this started (with a different name) at the Juvenile Court (Patrick Morris registered agent) with a contract for $110,000 with the County of San Bernardino and $80,000 in public donations — around 1986.    (See founding documents).   I’d say they’re doing OK…

This is very good reading — Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004.  I note that (bottom of first page) there is an accountability exemption for groups with receipts over $2 million (gross) IF they are receiving some of this from government grants AND those grants require that they account how the funds were used.   Hmmm….  Is this why there was such a proliferation of hugely successful charities partnering with government grants?

. Charitable Organizations Have 30 Days, Instead Of Six

Months, To Register And File Articles Of Incorporation

With The Attorney General’s Registry Of Charitable Trusts

[Government Code section 12585]

►Charitable corporations, unincorporated associations and trusts must file with the Attorney General articles of incorporation, or other documents governing the organization’s operations, (e.g., articles of association or trust instrument) within 30 days after initial receipt of property.

2. Independent Audit Of Annual Financial Statements Now Required For Charities With Gross Revenues Of $2 Million Or More [Government Code section 12586(e)(1)]

►Charitable corporations with gross revenues of $2 million or more must prepare annual financial statements audited by an independent certified public accountant (CPA). The statements must use generally accepted accounting principles. The independent CPA must follow generally accepted auditing standards.

UNLESS — UNLESS – they are teamed up with a government grant!

►The audit requirement applies to charitable corporations, unincorporated associations and trustees required to register and file reports with the Attorney General, whenever such organizations accrue $2 million or more in gross revenue in any fiscal year.

►The $2 million-threshold excludes grants received from governmental entities, if the nonprofit must provide an accounting of how it used the grant funds.

How detailed an “accounting”  — anything?  Or detailed?  Because I’ve already seen about how well the government accounts for, say, child support collected and not distributed!

What’s really funny — is this on-line display bears Bill Lockyer’s name (as then-attorney General) and I found several pieces of documentation about the nonprofit his wife (Nadia) was CEO of, i.e., the Alameda County Family Justice Center (ONE-STOP SHOP, remember?) requesting this nonprofit to PLEASE register and start filing tax returns!   I then looked up the Articles of Incorporation (Nancy O’Malley, District Attorney, executive director).  There was some back and forth, and then what appeared to be a retroactively dated document? shows up.  NOTE:   There are exceptions to accountability when nonprofits combine with government grants (and/or contracts?) — perhaps this is why we are seeing such an onslaught of GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (high-level) FORMING NONPROFITS to do the work that their public offices, one would think, should be compensating them for to start with.

JUDGING BY THIS, the Children’s Fund, Inc. of 825 E. Hospitality Lane, 2nd Floor, San “Bernerdino” is doing OK with the raffles, too:

I just clicked on one that earned $15,000 – maybe we should FORGET about child support enforcement and all do raffles.  FOrm a nonprofit for the purpose of feeding one’s family and relieving the government of the burden of fundraising bureaucracy to collect money for the poor:

Prereq Type: Prerequisite User Relationship: Self Automatic Registrant: CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED Registration No: 421-2003 Registration Type: Raffle Registration Registration Status: Expired Date Established: Association Date: Expiration Date:

Related Documents

No Related Documents

Raffle Event Data

Raffle Report Year: 2003 Raffle Start Date: 09-JUN-03 Raffle Location City: Raffle Location County: Total Funds Received from Sale of Raffle Tickets: $15,000.00 Were some or all of the Funds used for the Benefit of another Eligible Organization? Name of Recipient Organization: Recipient Org. Street Address: Recipient Org. City: Recipient Org. State: Recipient Org. Zip: Amount of Proceeds to Recipient Organization: Contact Person for Recipient Organization: Recipient Org. Phone Number: Total Expenses for Conducting the Raffle: $0.00

Organization Name Registration Number Record Type Registration Status City State Registration Type Record Type CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2003 Raffle Expired SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Registration Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2005-11 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2004-13 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2005-8 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421 Raffle Registered SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Registration Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 062080 Charity Current SAN BERNERDINO CA Charity Registration Charity CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2002 Raffle Expired SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Registration Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2004 Raffle Expired SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Registration Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2005 Raffle Expired SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Registration Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2002-1 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-07-16 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2002-3 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2003-5 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-08-15 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2007 Raffle Expired SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Registration Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2006 Raffle Expired SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Registration Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2005-10 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2003-4 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2004-7 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2006-12 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2004-9 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2002-2 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2004-14 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle CHILDREN’S FUND, INCORPORATED 421-2003-6 Raffle Complete SAN BERNERDINO CA Raffle Report Raffle 1

Funny how

Not even No commute costs, uniform costs, no meals out, and not printing costs — and it’s tax deductible.  A cool tax-exempt $15,000.     Remind me to work on my networking skills and contact a tax attorney!

Repeat, frequently and perhaps I, too, can pull in $2 million a year.  I’ll publicize it like this:  The purpose my charity is to reduce the $4 billion overhead for eliminating “Welfare as we know it” (and, “Child Support as we know it.”) — and it’s an innovative, demonstration project, for sure! 

 I should be nice and support some of my wisecracks about the “Alameda COunty Family Justice Center” (or ACFCJ, “Inc.”) so here you are:

 

Organization Name Registration Number Record Type Registration Status City State Registration Type Record Type ALAMEDA COUNTY FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER, INCORPORATED CT0163526 Charity Current OAKLAND CA Charity Registration Charity 1

 

              Explore that a bit.  It has no FEIN listed here, yet.   APparently it started 2007, registered as a charity — finally, upon a few requests to do so — around 2010.  And the founding documents are here, which are very interesting:

 The Attorney General’s office writes them in May, 2010  (First Notice to Register):

May 27, 2010

(CT FILE NUMBER: APP 1343461)

ALAMEDA COUNTY FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER, INCORPORATED

470 27TH STREET OAKLAND CA 94612

NOTICE TO REGISTER

We have received information indicating that this organization may be subject to the registration and reporting requirements of the Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act (Government Code sections 12580, et seq.).

Under “Miscellaneous Documents,” they respond.  Keep in mind, again, that the CEO of this agency (from the start) is the wife of a former Attorney General and an attorney working out of the District Attorney’s office, which naturally is under the Office of Attorney General to start with.   Do they really not know which end is up (even after there is a bill pending in the California Legislature (last I heard) to make this a model training center for other justice centers, which I blogged….)

The response in August 2010:

Alameda County ronily lustice Center

Zi9!.\ FF’Ztr) A collaborative of law enforcement, govemment,. and non-profit agencies ensuing thr gll

heating of abuse vrctiii tniigh

August ll,2010

F. Gonzales Staff Services Analyst Registry of Charitable Trusts Califomia Department of Justice

P.O. Box 903447 Sacramento, CA 94203 -447 0

comprehensive,

cootdinated, accessib,,

“‘o ^–t-:l g F-

Re: Alameda county Family Justice center cr File # cr0r63s26 Dear Ms. Gonzales,

This is in response to your letter of August 6tr (copy attached).

The Alameda County Justice Center (ACFJC) has operated as a government agency since its inception. The C.ounty of Alameda,bistrict auorneyis office obtained a federal grant to establish the Center. It is located in a county-owned and maintained building, housing governmental and non-profit agencies working in collaboration to provide services to victims and families who have experienced family violence. It has and still operates under the administration of the District Atto*”y’, office and funded under the budget of the county of Alameda. It has no assets, all utilized assets belong to the County of Alameda.

2′ With the ever-shrinking county-budget and the need to ensure the continued operation of the A-cfJC and expanding services, a decision was made to incorporate as a non-profit and thereby maximize the potential for obtaining grants and receiving donations normally not available to government agencies. An application_for Recognition of Exemption (InS Form 1023 copy attached) has been submitted to IRS and we are awaiting their decision.

There is no annual gross revenue for these periods, as all funding is provided within the budget of the county of Alameda.

.

4- IRS form 990’s have not been submitted as the ACFJC is awaiting IRS an determination of exemption.

If you need further information or clarification, please contact me at (xxx) xxx xxxx. Thank you.  (SIGNED, Harold Boscovich….)

Guess the IRS will get around to this in another five years or so?  Assuming that what he said above is true.

ANYHOW, food for thought, eh?

“”,j,i!!ry

 

Pursuant to section 12585 and 12586 of the Act, every charitable corporation incorporated or doing business in California, unincorporated association and trustee holding assets for charitable purposes or doing business in the State of California is required to register and file annual reports with the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts, within thirty (30) days of receiving assets (which includes cash or other forms of property). Some entities, such as educational institutions, religious corporations and hospitals, are exempt from registration and reporting under section 12583.

 

In order to determine if the captioned entity is subject to registration and reporting, please submit a completed Initial Registration (CT-1), together with the required attachments, and $25 initial registration fee, payable to the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts. Please include the“CT number” noted at the top of this letter in the memo portion of the check, and mail the completed form and check, together with a copy of this letter, to the Registry at the address set forth above.

!