Children's Aid and Family Services is a leading nonprofit that has served northern New Jersey for over 155 years, providing programs to support low-income children and families. It has expanded from a small local provider to one of the largest integrated family services systems in the region. The organization has enhanced its efficiency through new data management systems for clients and foster families. It is led by Dr. Robert Jones, who has grown the annual budget to $18 million through mergers and diversifying funding sources. Under his leadership, Children's Aid maintains high standards of accountability, compliance, and care for the communities it serves.

1. A
CORPORATE REPORT
Transforming Lives
By: Michelle Edwards
Professor Anthony G. Clark
Business Organization and Management

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Children's Aid and Family Services is one of the leading nonprofit human services organizations,
serving northern New Jersey since 1899. The Children’s Aid Society has provided innovative programs to
support the well-being of low-income children and families in northern New Jersey for over 155 years. Their
services range from adoption and foster care to early childhood education, eldercare, and education, as well as
support programs for families in need. Headquartered in Paramus, NJ the agency has facilities in Paramus, Park
Ridge, Ridgewood, Bogota, Clifton, South Orange and West Orange which create a unique safety net through a
comprehensive fabric of integrated services. They ensure that all clients have access to immediate, high-quality
innovative services that meet each client’s needs socially, educationally, and emotionally.
Robert Jones, Ph.D., is president & CEO of Children's Aid and Family Services. Having extensive
experience in the fields of child welfare, family services and mental health, he serves on the board of the
Alliance for Children and Families and is chair of the Resource Development Initiative (RDI) Task Force. Dr.
Jones' major accomplishments while leading Children's Aid and Family Services include the growth of small
local family service provider, with a staff of 15 and a budget of $200,000, to one of the largest integrated child
welfare, family and community service systems in northern NJ. He also led the merger of Children's Aid and
the Family Counseling Service of Ridgewood, which was launched with an endowment, presently exceeding
$15 million in planned gift, bequest and pledge commitments.
Edwards Question: Good morning and thank you again, for taking the time out to let me interview you. I have
heard a lot of great thing about Children’s Aid and Family Services; however, getting straight to the point, our
society is all about technology, and how has Children’s Aid and Family Services restructured themselves to
become more efficient and productive in this new millennium?
Dr. Jones Answer: “Well, we have revamped our clients’ data, and our data-management, which has enhanced
the interaction of Children’s Aid with our clients and our foster parent licensees. A primary example would be
our new computer system; in the past more times than not, we were forced to use fewer resources to help more
clients. That used to result in a highly “uncoordinated” approach since we were just using pen and paper. We’ve

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developed the right software to address our key concerns. We’ve developed a fosterTRACK program to help
social workers manage the license process for foster parents. Another system we have is caseTRACK, which
helps Children’s Aid organize and store data on all the children and families we serve. This systematic approach
is extremely efficient and productive because it helps us cope with the high employee turnover – that
traditionally occurs – and many other things that if I keep on going will keep you here all day.”
Edwards Question: A large part of the not-for-profit accountability is minimizing risks. How do you protect
Children’s Aid and Family Services from fraud and mis-management on the highest level of management? For
example, what safeguards are there for things like underreporting of gross contributions and related fundraising
expenditures?
Dr. Jones Answer: “Well, we have created an independent audit committee with several financial experts as
members- solely hired to prevent any type of fraud and mismanagement. Independent in this sense has a
specific meaning: no staff members serve as voting members and that all committee members serve as
uncompensated volunteers. The audit committee selects the auditor and communicates directly with me before,
during, and at the conclusion of the audit. I take direct responsibility for the accuracy, the completeness, and the
fairness of the financial statements and 990, all of which ultimately ensures that Children’s Aid has adequate
internal controls. I have also established procedures for board members and staff to report accountability
concerns anonymously and to ensure that all reports are fully investigated and resolved. Children’s Aid also
adopted a conflict of interest policy for the Board, management, and staff. By my investing in and enhancing
the accountability of the board and the organization, I have put forth the hypothesis that we are all involved in
watching out for the organization’s reputation. Like any good government, these controls are my “checks and
balances” so to speak, my way of emulating the tenets of federalism itself. It is my firm belief that these
controls will limit fraud and mismanagement on any level.”
Edwards Question: What impact has the economic downturn and credit crunch have on Children’s Aid and
Family Services, and what steps are you taking to compensate for it?

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Dr. Jones Answer: “We were hit hard, but we had several other ways to compensate for the donations and
government grants that decreased because of the recession. What actually helped a lot were the wide range of
collaborative partners in the community, including the schools, local donors, county law enforcement, and
counseling centers. We’ve found that asking for a specific type of donation from them dramatically improved
the return on our campaign by as much as 25 percent. What's more, Michelle, is that the non-profit organization
cannot afford to create a strategy -in my opinion- that will cause one of them to do better at the expense of
another non-profit organization. So, what we figured out is how to get new monies that have not been
previously given, rather than have someone transfer their allegiance from one non-profit program to ours.”
Edwards Question: How has the recent merger with “The Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources” affected
the company and what changes can the company expect because of this?
Dr. Jones Answer: “I am delighted that The Center has joined our agency family. Its services are a wonderful
complement to our existing social skills and other parenting and family education programs. The consolidation
of our two agencies in this way strengthens all aspects of our shared mission commitments. Operationally, ‘The
Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources' mission commitments and programs will remain unchanged. Its offices
and staff will continue to be based in their current location and will continue to be run by current executive
director, Ellen Elias Rocca, who will assume the dual role of Vice President of Prevention & Addiction Services
at Children's Aid and Family Services and Director of The Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources.”
Edwards Question: Organizational cultures can be created or sustained by hiring the “right people” who
already hold the organization’s values, or by formally or informally training people to adopt those values. Do
you think Children’s Aid and Family Services relies more on hiring the “right people,” or on training people to
adhere to their values?
Dr. Jones Answer: “That’s an interesting question, Michelle. For me though, it would be a little bit of both.
When hiring someone, you have to learn not to depend on just your insight and “intuitive” knowledge of people,
but on the mundane, boring, and conscientious step-by-step process. When making decisions on hiring
someone, you should never believe that you are a good judge of people because you will end up making the

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worst decisions. You have to learn not just to depend on what you think you know, but go through the process
of analyzing who to hire, otherwise it can end up hurting your establishment. All of us think we know who the
“right” person is, as a rule. But I don’t think it should be decided so impulsively. I would look at several people
to safeguard against being blinded by hiring the “right” person." Background checks can’t be chucked by thee
wayside just because someone has a feeling or a hunch.
Edwards Question: Virtually every nonprofit organization knows that donors prefer believing that their
contributions go entirely for mission-focused program activities. They also know that actual dollars will be
spent, raising the funds needed to carry out valuable programs. What I am wondering is how do you define what
is and is not included in the category, "fund-raising cost"? That category goes far beyond the realm of
accountants, into the magic kingdoms of marketing and public relations.
Dr. Jones Answer: “Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point-of-view, the accounting profession
has created fairly specific guidelines to answer many of the most frequently asked questions about fund raising
costs. Statement of Position (SOP) 98-2 has been in effect for more than three years, but actual practices in
nonprofits still haven’t quite caught up with GAAP heightened “confusion” about fund-raising costs. But I can
still define what is and is not included by setting up a fund raising cost center in our chart of accounts, which is
used to track fund raising expenses throughout the year. Then by identifying all the ways Children’s Aid seeks
contributions, we can identify all the costs associated with these efforts, including the cost of staff time to
organize events, send out mailings, and coordinate volunteer solicitors and so on. We can then check to see if
any of the activities fit an "exception" from being considered as fund raising costs.”
Children’s Aid and Family Services has an outstanding record of planning for its future. Since Dr.
Jones’ history with Children’s Aid, they have been having a remarkably low administrative overhead, with
facilities throughout northern New Jersey, a staff of 350 employees, and an annual operating budget of
approximately $18 million. In fact, for the last 10 years under Dr. Jones’ care Children’s Aid and Family
Services has been accredited by The Council on Accreditation, which is one of the nation’s leading
accreditation authorities. Dr. Jones is also considered an industry leader in the area of continuous quality

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improvement and has been a trusted partner with dozens of community, government, corporate, volunteer, and
other nonprofit organization that have joined Children’s Aid in their mission. Thanks to the skilled and prudent
management of Dr. Jones, Children’s Aid and Family Services has steadily surpassed their ability to deliver
services to families and children in need. It is impossible to make any recommendations that can enhance the
dynamic course that Dr. Jones has already charted. He is the right person to be guiding this organization in this
economically fickle millennium.