Walden Environment
Foster. Adopt. Support.
Mission
Walden Family Services' mission is to support the lives of children and youth through stable homes and supportive services that form the foundation from which they can heal and grow. Our vision is that every child has the support that enables them to realize their greatest potential as self-sufficient and productive members of the community.
Ruling year
1977
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Teresa A. Stivers
Chief Operating Officer
Sue Evans
Main address
8525 Gibbs Drive Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92123 USA
EIN
94-2358632
NTEE code
Foster Care (P32)
Children's and Youth Services (P30)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There are over 60,000 foster children in California. They need a secure, loving home, but many don't have them. Medically fragile children are at risk of being placed in institutional settings; those with emotional, behavioral, and developmental issues need specialized treatments that often aren't available to them. Foster kids experience trauma from being displaced, and the instability of multiple foster home placements can make these kids' challenges even greater. Many have mental health problems. Foster youth age out of the system without a home or an adult to guide them or financial resources. Within two years of aging out of the system, 50% experience homelessness, 50% experience poverty, 70% are on government assistance, 70% of females are parenting, and 60% have not graduated high school. Less than 3% will ever earn a college degree and 90% of those with five or more placements will be arrested and/or incarcerated. 50% of sex trafficked persons are/were in the foster system.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Foster Care and Adoption
The FOSTER CARE and ADOPTION PROGRAM ensures that children and youth of all ages have the opportunity to grow up with the stability, love, and sense of community of family life. Social workers help kids heal from trauma with the goal of stabilizing and reunifying the family. When reunification is not possible, we help children develop stable, lasting relationships with relatives or kin or foster and adoptive resource families who step forward to care for the child. Adoptive families are intensively trained by Walden on how to care for their children and are continually supported by us.
TREATMENT-LEVEL FOSTER CARE serves children with severe emotional and behavioral challenges due to past abuse and who need intensive services to help them heal while in a family environment. SPECIALIZED CARE meets the needs of foster children with developmental disabilities. SPECIAL HEALTHCARE provides highly-skilled, certified foster families who care for medically fragile children.
Transitional Housing Program (THP)
Walden's THP Programs assists youth aging out of the foster care system, providing them with the support and life skills necessary to successfully transition to adulthood. Youth work or attend school while in the program. The program offers youth free, fully-furnished apartments in the neighborhood of their choice; education and employment support; life skills training, including household management, healthy relationships, and budgeting; case management and goal-setting; a lifelong connection with an adult; connections to community resources; and monthly stipends to encourage saving. THP-Non-Minor Dependents serves youth ages 18-21 who elect to remain in the foster system. THP Plus serves former foster youth ages18-24. If they’re pursuing higher education, participation may be extended an additional 12 months, up to age 25.
Nurturing Families
The Nurturing Families Program serves pregnant/parenting females and parenting males, equipping them with the skills to parent responsibly and lovingly. 90% of parents have lost custody of their children due to neglect or abuse and do not have the tools, experience, or role modeling to successfully raise a child. The program provides evidence-based training, parenting skills, and tools designed to help parents understand their children's needs and development, as well as their own roles and responsibilities. Parents develop empathy and acquire confidence in their parenting skills. The program maximizes positive outcomes for children and parents. The program includes Healthy Relationships classes to teach parents who have been in abusive relationships how to have peaceful relationships. A large number of participants were foster children and now have had their children removed from their homes. This makes the program critical in breaking the cycle of foster care.
Adoptions
Walden Family Services is committed to the child's need for a permanent home. In order to facilitate strong attachments, Walden provides training and supportive therapy for the family and child. Additionally, post-adoptive services are provided. Walden is committed to facilitating the family's adjustments as the child grows through each developmental stage into early adulthood.
Where we work
Accreditations
CARF 2021
CARF 2023
Awards
Innovator Status for Services for care for LGBTQ Youth 2018
Human Rights Campaign All Children-All Families
Affiliations & memberships
Alliance for Children and Families - Member 2015
Foster Family-based Treatment Association 2015
California Association of Adoption Agencies 2018
Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities 2018
Foster Family-Based Treatment Association 2018
John Burton Advocates for Youth - Beyond the Safety Net Initiative 2018
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of children placed in homes providing foster care.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, LGBTQ people
Related Program
Foster Care and Adoption
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Due to lack of sufficient government funding, Walden had to cut back on the number of foster children we can accomodate.
Number of youth in foster care and formerly in foster care provided with transitional housing placement with supportive services so they can learn, work and succeed.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults, LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
Transitional Housing Program (THP)
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of participants in prevention-based parenting programs designed to break the cycle of foster care, and promote caring, loving homes where children can thrive.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults, Caregivers, Parents
Related Program
Nurturing Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of foster care children placed with a family that were formally adopted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Foster Care and Adoption
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The 2018 figure is the number of children placed with and formally adopted by a Walden family.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We strive for every child and youth in our care to have a secure home and the ability to realize his/her greatest potential to be a self-sufficient and productive member of the community. We seek to accomplish this through:
Provide a Transitional Housing Placement Program to help youth aging out of the foster system and into productive and stable lives.
Provide therapeutic foster care that promotes healing and minimizes the number of placements the children experience.
Provide adoption services to help children who cannot return to their birth parents to find a loving, permanent home.
Provide a Mental Health Program that heals young people from trauma and psychological challenges and disorders.
Provide a parenting program that breaks the cycle of foster care, and promotes caring, competent parents whose children can thrive.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Treatment-level foster care enables children including those with serious levels of emotional or behavioral difficulties and/or special health care needs to live with a foster family..
2. The process of becoming a Walden foster or adoptive parent includes attending a Parent Orientation, 30 hours of pre-certification training, a home study to ensure home compliance, fingerprint clearances, employment verification, and income verification.
3. The Transitional Housing Placement Program places foster and former foster youth in free-of-charge housing. Youth receive weekly visits with a Social Worker, education support, employment support, life skills training, a money-savings program, and more..
4. Mental Health Program addresses the trauma that all foster kids experience, through individual and group therapy. Children and youth are treated for disorders such as depression, anxiety, reactive attachment disorder, and PTSD.
4. Nurturing Families holds groups where they train parents who have lost custody of their children or are in danger of losing them to raise their children lovingly and responsibly. This program is designed to end the cycle of abuse and neglect.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Founded in 1976, Walden Family Services is a recognized leader in foster care and services for transitional-age foster youth. We provide foster care and related services for children, youth, and families throughout Southern California. We have offices in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego, where we are headquartered.
We offer a Foster Care Program, Parenting Training, Adoption Services, a Mental Health Program, and a Transitional Housing Placement Program for foster and former foster youth. Aftercare services are available for emancipated youth so that they can continue to access resources and support.
Walden was instrumental in the passage of Assembly Bill 12, which paved the way for Transitional Housing Placement Programs. Walden was one of the first agencies licensed to provide the program and is the second largest provider in Southern California. Walden's years of experience with THP Programs give us the ability to encourage the best of results for our youth.
There are 35,000 children and youth in foster care in Southern California. We are an agency of choice for referrals from county and state welfare systems because of our strong track record for service excellence and specialized care of shard-to-place foster children including sibling groups, children with special needs, those ages 10+ and LGBTQ youth.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
1976
Founded to provide quality care for children placed in residential group homes
1983
Pioneered one of Californias first Treatment Foster Care programs to offer children and teenagers an alternative to group home placements
1994
Expanded foster care program to serve children with developmental disabilities
2001
Created the Independent Futures program to serve and support foster youth before and after exiting care
Established a program to support pregnant and parenting teens
Pioneered a campaign program to advocate for and safely place LGBTQ foster youth in the community; began actively recruiting foster parents from the LGBTQ community
2002
Launched a program to serve dependent children with special health care needs in Riverside County
2006
Expanded services to children with special health care needs to Los Angeles
2007
Expanded services to children with special health care needs to San Diego
2008
Licensed as a full service adoption agency
2009
Contracted to provide Independent Living After Care services to emancipated youth in San Bernardino County
2012
Launched program to serve young people remaining in foster care until age 21, under the California Fostering Connections to Success Act
2013
Contracted with San Bernardino County to run visitation centers that provide a place where birth families participate in court-ordered supervised visits while their children who are in foster care
Launched Nurturing Parents and CalLearn programs to support pregnant and parenting teens
Licensed to provide a combined transitional housing/foster care program to support young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood
2014
Foster Family and Adoptions (FFA) programs accredited by CARF International, an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services
2015
Named a Live Well San Diego partner by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors
2016
Initiated a Mental Health Program in Riverside.
Recognized by the Human Rights Campaign All Children-All Families initiative for our commitment to providing welcoming, culturally competent services for LGBT kids and families
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Walden Environment
Board of directorsas of 04/11/2024
Ms. Leslie Levinson
San Diego State University Research Foundation
Term: 2021 - 2024
Ms. Andrea da Rosa
Community Advocate
Term: 2021 - 2024
Leslie Levinson
San Diego State University Research Foundation
Rajah Gainey
San Diego State University
Cherie Enge
Law Offices of Cherie Enge
Emily Shultz
Sempra Infrastructure
Andréa de Rosa
Community Advocate
Ted Gooch
Stripe
Amber Lopez Gamble
The California Wellness Foundation
Allison Gelbrich
Dreamscape Real Estate
Elenore A. Vaughn
Courtyard Marriott
Javier Metoyer
Home Street Bank
Camille Alexander
Petco
Therese Cabelles
North Island Credit Union
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/05/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
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