WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES

Financials

From the e-filed returns the IRS publishes as XML (latest three processing years; amended returns replace the original). PDF copies at the IRS.

Officers, directors and key employees

As listed on the 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025, highest compensation first.

Address and contacts

Address (IRS master file)

5300 ANGELES VISTA BLVD, VIEW PARK, CA 90043-1648

Principal officer (990 for 2024)

Jay Allen, 5300 Angeles Vista Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90043

Signed the 990

Jay Allen, CEO

Phone

(323) 295-4555

Website

www.wayfinderfamily.org

Return prepared by

Harrington Group CPAs LLP

California records

California keeps its own records of charities and corporations. Search them by EIN 95-1977659 or by the name WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES.

Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers

Registration status and filed reports (CT-TR-1, RRF-1)

Secretary of State, bizfile Online

Corporation status, entity number, agent for service

Franchise Tax Board

Entity status letter (state tax exemption, good standing)

Mission

The mission of Wayfinder Family Services is to ensure that children, youth and adults facing challenges always have a place to turn. Founded in 1953 as the Foundation for the Junior Blind, the organization initially enabled visually impaired children to lead fuller and more independent lives. In response to community needs, Wayfinder expanded programs for children, youth and adults with vision loss or profound special needs and serious medical conditions; children and infants who have experienced loss and trauma; foster youth in search of homes and opportunity; and adoptive families. We offer all services at no cost to our clients, most of whom are low-income people of color.

Program accomplishments

• Our statewide Foster Care and Adoption programs match children and youth who have been displaced from their homes due to abuse or neglect with families that can provide safe, caring homes. Wayfinder recruits, trains and certifies resource (foster) families, some of whom ultimately adopt the children they foster. We emphasize a child achieving permanency, which can be reunification with birth parents, living with relatives, adoption or guardianship. Also, Wayfinder offers therapeutic post-adoption support that includes case management, mental health therapy and mentoring to children and their adoptive families during and after adoption to promote stability and permanency.
  Expenses $15,054,557 · grants $1,918,533
• The Cottage is a 10-day temporary shelter care program on our Los Angeles campus for boys and girls ages 0 through 17 who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. These children need temporary refuge until they can be placed with family members or foster families. Our professional staff stabilize children in crisis so they are ready to transition to a placement. Wayfinder is one of only four agencies selected by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services to provide this service-and the only shelter licensed to care for infants and toddlers. Thus, The Cottage receives all children under age 5 in the county who are removed from their homes due to maltreatment and cannot be immediately placed with a friend or family member.
  Expenses $5,844,207
• Mental Health offers therapy to children, youth, adults and families in our programs, including traumatized youth in The Cottage and The Haven. Wayfinder remains one of only a handful of organizations in the state that offers mental health services to people with disabilities. Our counselors help clients build skills to cope with vision loss, traumatic experiences, unstable environments, abuse, neglect and more. Wayfinder's community mental health services assist residents in need in Los Angeles, Butte and Placer counties. Our mental health care in the community is focused on preventative services to build resilient individuals and families.
  Expenses $6,580,641
• Families referred to Family Preservation are at risk of having children removed from their home. Through intensive counseling and other services, parents recognize their triggers and learn how to prevent the behaviors that destabilize their family. As a result of Family Preservation, children avoid out-of-home placement or reentry to foster care and can thrive in their nurturing families. This program launched in July 2024 and reflects Wayfinder's commitment to expanding preventive services that can avert the need for crisis intervention.Our Kinship Support Services Program is a kinship navigation service for grandparents, extended family members or close family friends who step up to raise children so they avoid the trauma of separation from their birth family. The program also assists kinship families that form voluntarily, without the assistance of a child welfare agency. Our program offers counseling, assistance with basic needs, support groups and workshops, respite resources and more. Kinship families are more stable, and children maintain their family connections, which produces better long-term outcomes. Our Family Finding services search exhaustively for relatives or people close to children in foster care so they can establish supportive connections. Family finding specialists contact relatives to see if they are interested in phone calls or visits with children in care. Family may not know how to search for the child or even that the child is in foster care. Our specialists coordinate contacts for children and these relatives to build trust and connections so the youth will have a network of caring adults to rely on when they leave foster care. Promoting Safe and Stable Families provides counseling and support to reduce the recurrence of child maltreatment and re-entry into foster care and to increase families' self-sufficiency and positive parenting. The program serves two groups: families that receive intensive services to prevent them from entering the child welfare system and families that receive longer term support as they reunify with a previously removed child. Child and Family Development provides counseling, parent coaching and parenting skills training to birth, adoptive and kinship families whose children are at risk for out-of-home placement due to behavioral, emotional or mental health issues. The program also serves families who have reunified with a child who was previously removed from the home in order to preserve stability and prevent re-entry into out-of-home care.Parents whose children are in foster care receive Supervised Visitation and Coaching services to strengthen parenting skills, enhance parent-child relationships and sustain family ties. Psychosocial Assessment Program assesses resource families, including adoptive families, by completing resource family evaluations within county timeframes.Child Development Services provides early intervention in person to children from birth to age 6 with visual impairment or multiple disabilities. Young children maximize any vision they have and reduce developmental delays. Parents learn to provide their child with therapeutic stimulation and advocate for their child's education and care. Child development reduces the need for special education and increases independence for children with disabilities. Our Special Education School offers children and youth, ages 5 to 22, who are visually impaired or have moderate-to-severe disabilities a safe, positive environment for learning and growth. In the least restrictive environment in our state-certified, non-public school, teachers develop students' communication, mobility and functional skills to increase their independence. Camp Bloomfield provides children and youth who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled with memorable experiences in the outdoors. Our camp program offers activities adapted for children of all ages and abilities that develop self-esteem and build independence. Also, Wayfinder offers sports, recreation and outdoor adventures that are adapted for children and teens with disabilities.In Transition Services, teenagers and young adults ages 16 to 25 from across California who are blind or visually impaired explore careers and successfully transition to independent living, college or the workforce. Participants learn assistive technology, independent living, and orientation and mobility (white cane and safe travel) skills. They participate in college-access activities, develop leadership skills, learn job-seeking skills and increase their independence. The program offers weekend workshops and a four-week, in-person summer program in classrooms and dorms on the Cal State Los Angeles campus. The Davidson Program for Independence on Wayfinder's Los Angeles campus and the Hatlen Center for the Blind in Sacramento in Northern California are comprehensive residential rehabilitation programs for adults ages 18 and older who are blind or visually impaired, many with recent vision loss. Participants learn assistive technology, orientation and mobility, braille, and independent living skills. Each client pursues individualized goals that lead to a confident transition to an independent life and education or employment.Assistive Technology Training provides instruction on the latest assistive technology devices and software for success in today's job market to adults with vision loss, ages 18 and older. Employment Services teaches adults who are blind or visually impaired the skills they need to join or rejoin the workforce. Participants attend training on our L.A. campus, remotely, or in person in their homes. They receive assessments, training and job placement, as well as coaching and instruction in orientation and mobility to find and keep jobs. Clients emerge as competitive candidates in the workforce. Also, Wayfinder helps employers adapt workspaces to increase accessibility. Wayfinder's Older Individuals who are Blind program provides adults ages 55 and older who are visually impaired with training to assist them in living independently. Each client has an individualized service plan that specifies goals and activities. Clients receive one-to-one instruction, small group trainings and virtual visits on our L.A. campus, in clients' homes and at senior centers. For each person, trainings combine the seven service categories that meet their needs: low vision, assistive technology, orientation and mobility, communication, activities of daily living, self-advocacy, or adjustment counseling. As a result, older adults gain independence and self-sufficiency so they can participate more fully in their communities. Our Medical Department provides 24-hour services to residents of our three on-campus residential programs, plus students in our Special Education School. Many have complex, intertwined medical, mental health and behavioral needs, which our medical staff are adept at addressing. Medical department staff are nurses, and we contract with a psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, endocrinologist and behavioral psychologist. Mental Health offers therapy to children, youth, adults and families in our programs, including traumatized youth in The Cottage and The Haven. Wayfinder remains one of only a handful of organizations in the state that offers mental health services to people with disabilities. Our counselors help clients build skills to cope with vision loss, traumatic experiences, unstable environments, abuse, neglect and more. Wayfinder's community mental health services assist residents in need in Los Angeles, Butte and Placer counties. Our mental health care in the community is focused on preventative services to build resilient individuals and families.Be Well focuses on mental wellness and empowerment of youth ages 14-25 who are experiencing mental health disorders or early symptoms of one. The program mitigates mental health and wellness challenges, while supporting healing for vulnerable youth. The goals are to destigmatize mental health challenges and assist youth in strengthening their resiliency.The Haven provides shelter and long-term foster care for unaccompanied children. The program assists children ages 0 to 17 and pregnant or parenting teenagers who enter the country alone and do not have a parent or legal guardian in the U.S. to care for them. The program includes a group home on our L.A. campus housing boys ages 12 to 17, basic foster care in family homes for children ages 0 to 17, and therapeutic foster care in the homes of trained families for children ages 0 to 17 with significant emotional, behavioral, medical or developmental needs. Wayfinder addresses these children's complex, intertwined needs; provides stability; reduces trauma; and locates suitable sponsors.
  Expenses $13,268,112

What it must file and when

IRS records say it files Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N. Its accounting year ends in June, so each return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after that.

IRS record

EIN

95-1977659

Tax-exempt status

501(c)(3): Charitable, religious, educational or scientific organization

Foundation status

Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))

Donations deductible (Pub 78)

Public charity, 50% deduction limit

Exempt since

1954

Accounting year ends

June

Files

Form 990 or 990-EZ

Category (NTEE)

Human services (P860)

Assets (IRS master file)

$66,853,479

Income (IRS master file)

$49,802,350

Filing history

990-N: the IRS bulk file holds only the latest e-Postcard per organization; earlier years come from archived copies of that file since 2020 and can have gaps (the IRS e-Postcard search lists every one). 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-T: every e-filed return in the IRS e-file index since 2019; XML for the latest three processing years, amounts from the IRS Statistics of Income extracts before that. PDF copies and determination letters at the IRS (search EIN 95-1977659).

Questions about WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES

What is the EIN of WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES?

The employer identification number (EIN) of WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES is 95-1977659.

Is WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES tax-exempt?

Yes. The IRS lists it as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) since 1954.

Are donations to WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES tax-deductible?

Yes. It is listed in IRS Publication 78 (Public charity, 50% deduction limit).

Which annual return does WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES file?

Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N.

When is the next return of WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES due?

The return for tax year 2025 (the year ending June 30, 2026) is due November 16, 2026. Form 8868 extends it by six months; the 990-N cannot be extended.

When did WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES last file with the IRS?

The latest return in the IRS public files is the 990 for the year ended June 2025.

Who is the principal officer of WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES?

The 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025 names Jay Allen.

Who are the officers and directors of WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES?

The 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025 lists 21 people; 7 received compensation from the organization, the highest $406,328 (Jay Allen, CEO).

How much revenue does WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES have?

On its 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025 it reported revenue of $46,687,538, expenses of $48,260,256 and total assets of $66,853,479 at year end.

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