Thread: CEO of Charity Housing Migrant Kids Sports a $1.5M Salary

The charity is expected to rake in about $500 million in federal contracts this year, CNN reports.

How is that "charity"? And how can this be called a "non-profit"?

The Clinton Foundation is nothing but profit. By contrast, President Trump's charity reportedly paid out more money than it took in, with the Trump's contributing more.

Southwest Key Programs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Southwest Key Programs is a Texas-based nonprofit organization that operates unaccompanied minor shelters for immigrant youth, youth justice alternative programming and educational programming as well as providing community enrichment programming such as cultural arts programming, health, wellness and nutrition programming and social enterprises.^[1] Southwest Key was founded in 1987.^[2] The organization reported in August 2016 that it has 87 programs in 7 states: California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, and in Goshen, New York.^[3][4]

The organization reported annual revenue of $242,755,041 for the year ended August 31, 2016, 98.9% of which came from grants and contracts.^[5] Southwest Key Programs is the sole owner of Southwest Key Enterprises, a for-profit holding company made up of several businesses, including: Cafe del Sol, Southwest Key Green Energy & Construction, Southwest Key Workforce Development, and Southwest Key Maintenance.^[6]

Southwest Key's largest source of revenue is grants and contract revenue.^[7] Southwest Key first opened an immigrant shelter in the late 1990s. It now describes itself as "one of the largest providers of services to unaccompanied children in the U.S."^[4][8]

As of mid-2018, it houses 5,100 immigrant children^[9] and operates 26 immigrant youth facilities in Texas, Arizona, and California.^[8]

In 2015, it received $193,948,228 in contracts from the "unaccompanied alien children" program, the vast majority of its federal grants.^[2] As of June 2018, it has received $310,824,288 in federal grants in fiscal year 2018 (which began on October 1, 2017).

Under a contract signed in June 2018, its total grant revenue for immigrant your detention will reach $458 million for the fiscal year.^[10]

Grants for housing immigrant children increased dramatically following the announcement of the Trump administration's family separation policy. By mid-June 2018, children separated from their parents represented about 10% of Southwest Key's migrant child population.^[8]


The organization is headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Juan Sánchez. His wife Jennifer Sánchez is a vice president of the organization.^[8]

Evidence surfaced in June 2018 of Southwest employees telling crying siblings, traumatized because they were just separated from their parents, that they weren't allowed to hug and comfort each other.<sup>[11]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Key_Programs</sup>

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Southwest Key Programs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What's your point? The fact that they claim to be a charity doesn't square with the CEO getting that much money. He is certainly not donating his time, or money!

Southwest Key Programs
Media Contact

Lizzie Chen: 512-949-2672 (direct) or lchen@swkey.org

Contact Us

Southwest Key Programs
6002 Jain Lane, Austin, TX 78721
(512) 462-2181
(512) 462-2028 (fax)
Email Us

Connect

The big business of housing immigrant children

By Drew Griffin, CNN Investigations
Updated 2:55 PM ET, Thu June 21, 2018

(CNN)As Juan Sanchez tells it, he spent years as the underpaid leader of the non-profit that is now providing housing to migrant children who were recently separated from their parents.


His salary at Southwest Key Programs Inc. was low, he said, and there was no health insurance or retirement plan.

But those days are over.

According to recent tax filings, Sanchez received nearly $1.5 million in total compensation in 2016 as CEO of the non-profit he founded more than 30 years ago. His salary nearly doubled from the year before, when he was paid $786,822.


A boy waits in line in the Casa Padre shelter in Brownsville, Texas, on June 13, 2018. The shelter is run by non-profit Southwest Key Programs.

Sanchez's salary among the highest for charities

Charity watchdogs say Sanchez seems to be richly compensated.

"The salary is extraordinarily high for a charity, even a large charity," said Marcus Owens, the former head of the Internal Revenue Service division that oversees nonprofits.

Nonetheless, he said, a non-profit organization's board has the right to determine its president's salary.

Daniel Borochoff, the president of CharityWatch, said although his group does not follow Southwest Key because most of its money comes from government contracts, it would be the fifth-highest CEO salary when compared to the more than 600 US charities his organization ranks.

"The head of the American Red Cross receives a $600,000 salary," Borochoff said in comparison. "It's a multi-billion dollar charity. They control half of our blood supply, lead disaster provider. You've got this charity [Southwest Key], the budget is like a tenth of [the Red Cross's] size."

By many accounts, Southwest Key does good work providing safe housing to unaccompanied minors, though it has been cited in the past for some violations. It is one of the larger non-profits that provides care and housing to migrant children in US custody. Over the past 10 years, the organization has received about $1.5 billion for operating 83 programs across the country that include shelters for migrant children and youth justice initiatives.

This year, it is slated to take in about a half billion dollars in federal contracts.

In an interview with Austin's KLRU-TV, Sanchez said President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance border policy left him inundated with children.

"We never imagined that we would have this many kids, that we would see the kind of policies we see now," Sanchez said.

"The ultimate goal for us is, how do we reunify these kids with their families?"


Beds stand at the ready at Casa Padre shelter in Brownsville, Texas, for immigrant children who have been separated from their families.


Salary within reasonable range, rep says

A spokesperson for Southwest Key told CNN in an email that Sanchez's salary is within a reasonable range.

"The Board of Directors determines Dr. Sanchez's salary based on a percentage of Southwest Key Programs' annual revenue compared to other nonprofits. An analysis is done annually comparing Dr. Sanchez's salary as a percentage of revenue to CEOs of other nonprofits that provide similar services as well as nonprofits of comparable size based on revenue," the spokesperson said.

Southwest Key provided CNN a list of salaries for 40 nonprofit CEOs that it said justified Sanchez's compensation level. Sanchez had the third-highest compensation on that list, behind the CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who makes $6.7 million, and the director of New York's Museum of Modern Art, who makes nearly $2.2 million.

Among non-profits as large as Southwest Key and operating under a similar classification, CNN found Sanchez is paid among the very top.

According to his online biography, Sanchez grew up in a poor neighborhood in south Texas and went on to earn a doctorate from the School of Education at Harvard University.

Sanchez was paid about $127,000 in 1997. Almost every year since, except for 2004 and 2005 when tax filings income information was left blank, his salary has increased.

Sanchez did not respond to CNN's requests for an interview. But he defended his salary in the KLRU interview.

"When we started, we started with nothing, very low salaries, no health insurance... Over time our board had got to the point where they said we are now at a position where we can pay you a decent salary and give you some good retirement packages," he said.

Sanchez's wife, Jennifer, also receives a salary from Southwest Key.

Documents show Jennifer Sanchez's total compensation was $280,819 in 2015 for her role as vice president of Southwest Key.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/21/us/so...nvs/index.html

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

(CNN)As Juan Sanchez tells it, he spent years as the underpaid leader of the non-profit that is now providing housing to migrant children who were recently separated from their parents.


His salary at Southwest Key Programs Inc. was low, he said, and there was no health insurance or retirement plan.

How low was it? A paltry $100,000 per year? How many actual charity workers can make that claim? Pastors of churches (with the exception of the mega churches)? Charity is giving, donating! This is profiteering. $1.5 per year for one charitable person? Sounds like a profitable operation to me.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Southwest Key Programs
Media Contact

Lizzie Chen: 512-949-2672 (direct) or lchen@swkey.org

Contact Us

Southwest Key Programs
6002 Jain Lane, Austin, TX 78721
(512) 462-2181
(512) 462-2028 (fax)
Email Us

Connect

Are you working for them?

Now you are soliciting contributions for them?

Originally Posted by jtdc

Are you working for them?

Now you are soliciting contributions for them?

NO. I'm providing people with a way to contact them if they want to give them a piece of their mind.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

NO. I'm providing people with a way to contact them if they want to give them a piece of their mind.

So it took me asking you to draw that out. You could have started with a comment that "Here's ways to give them a piece of your mind!" Then I wouldn't have to speculate if you were a supporter or a critic!

Originally Posted by jtdc

How is that "charity"? And how can this be called a "non-profit"?

The Clinton Foundation is nothing but profit. By contrast, President Trump's charity reportedly paid out more money than it took in, with the Trump's contributing more.

(They should do away with all non-profits.)

Non-profit CHARITY is a tax status. The states and federal government set the rules for who is and who isn't a charity.
--------------------------------------------

Are All Nonprofit Organizations Tax-Exempt?

•••BY JOANNE FRITZ
Updated April 29, 2018

The answer to that question is complicated because there are several types of nonprofits.

First, let's clarify what tax-exempt means. A fully exempt nonprofit may be exempt from most federal income taxes and some state taxes, such as sales and property taxes. Also, its donors may be able to take a tax deduction for their donations to the organization.


Some nonprofits enjoy the first exemption but not the second.

That's because there are 29 types of nonprofit organizations within the tax code. For instance, your local Chamber of Commerce probably is a 501(c)(6). Your recreational club may be a 501(c)(7). And your child's daycare is likely a 501(k).


The charitable non-profits that we are so familiar with are 501(c)(3) organizations under the U.S. tax code. They receive income tax exemption, and their donors may take a tax deduction for their donations.

The tax situation can be murky, however, since some activities that a charitable non-profit could be taxed, typically as an unrelated business activity. That could occur when a nonprofit runs a business venture to supplement its income and when that activity is not related to the nonprofit's core mission.

Likewise, individuals can only take a tax deduction when they donate to a charity if they itemize their deductions on their tax return.

Charitable nonprofits must apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status. It is not conferred automatically. And some charitable activities and groups do not apply because they are small or temporary. Some charitable organizations choose to be unincorporated nonprofit associations which often do not apply for tax exemption. Churches and religious organizations are treated a little differently than "public" charities.

It is all to point out that nothing is simple, especially when it comes to the US tax code.

Charitable nonprofits that wish to become 501(c)(3) tax-exempt must meet three tests:

The Organizational Test

Tax-exempt nonprofits must be organized for a lawful purpose in one of these categories:

• Educational
• Religious
• Charitable
• Scientific
• Literary
• Testing for public safety
• Fostering certain national or international amateur sports competitions
• Preventing cruelty to children or animals

The Political Test

Organizations seeking 501(c)(3) status must state explicitly in their organizing papers that they will not participate in any political campaign on the behalf of any candidate or make expenditures for political purposes. There are 501(c) groups that can engage in these activities, but not 501(c)(3) organizations.

The Asset Test

A nonprofit's charter must state that it prohibits distribution of assets or income to individuals (except as fair compensation for their services). The organization must also explicitly state that it will not be used for the personal gain or benefit of its founders, employees, supporters, relatives, or associates.

The Bottom Line

In summary, there are many types of nonprofit organizations. Not all are charitable nonprofits. Only 501(c)(3) organizations receive both favorable tax treatment plus tax deductions for their donors.

Charitable organizations must apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status and they must meet the three tests that define charitable organizations: the organizational test which has to do with mission; the political test that has to do with political neutrality; and the asset test, which requires that the organization's assets be used for the public good.

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-q...mption-2501886