logo logo
Donate
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Social Justice
    • Racial Justice
    • Climate Justice
    • Disability Justice
    • Economic Justice
    • Health Justice
    • Immigration
    • LGBTQ+
  • Civic News
  • Nonprofit Leadership
    • Board Governance
    • Equity-Centered Management
    • Finances
    • Fundraising
    • Human Resources
    • Organizational Culture
    • Philanthropy
    • Power Dynamics
    • Strategic Planning
    • Technology
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Leading Edge Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Webinars

Second Mile Looks to Delay Transfer of Assets and Programs

Rick Cohen
August 29, 2012

2 Mile

August 27, 2012; Source: Fox News (Associated Press)

Second Mile, the youth charity founded by convicted child sexual abuser Jerry Sandusky, has asked the courts to delay a planned transfer of programs and assets to the Houston, Texas-based Arrow Child and Family Ministries, at least until damage claims pending against Second Mile are resolved. Despite frequent coverage of issues concerning Second Mile, the NPQ Newswire has come up with more questions than answers about how Second Mile operated over the years and what is going to happen next. Second Mile never released the formal report it commissioned from former Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, which was to take stock of what happened to allow a pedophile relatively free rein even after reports surfaced about his predatory activities.

The one thing that we can see clearly emerging from Abraham’s review was the Arrow transfer plan. Arrow appears to have a muscular program of services for foster children, including “clinical case management and in-home therapy to children who have been physically, psychologically, or sexually abused, are medically fragile, or have been in trouble with the authorities.” The two organizations’ program of services for foster children affirmed that the delay will not affect any of the external legal investigations that may be underway examining Second Mile’s potential culpability for Sandusky’s depredations. The CEO of Second Mile, David Woodle, says that despite the organization’s tanking charitable contributions, it will continue to operate its programs using its cash reserves.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Arrow Child & Family Ministries is no fly-by-night operation. It provides services in four states and in Honduras, and it appears to be growing. From 2010 to 2011, its total revenues (almost all in the form of program service revenues) increased from $17.8 million to $20.9 million, an jump of 17.2 percent during two years of national economic recession. Arrow is, however, one of the approximately 41 percent of U.S. nonprofits with annual budgets of $1 million or more that reports zero fundraising expenses on its 990, a practice that has been received skeptically by many nonprofit experts.

Despite its sizeable operations, Arrow doesn’t report a large fund balance (a little less than $1.3 million). In its last available 990 for 2010, Second Mile reported much smaller total revenues of $2.2 million, but a much larger fund balance of approximately $9 million. Assuming that Second Mile has had to dip into that cash reserve already to pay for costs associated with the Sandusky scandal, it has—or at least had—more of a cushion for dealing with Sandusky-related litigation than Arrow.

As such, one can guess that Arrow would probably rather take on Second Mile’s assets after the legal complaints have been resolved instead of facing plaintiffs who begin looking at its own programs and assets for additional compensation—even if that sort of complaint wouldn’t be upheld in the courts. The legal costs alone wouldn’t be good for Arrow. But rather than temporarily shutting down its operations, doesn’t it appear that Second Mile’s continuing to operate based on cash reserves means that plaintiffs will have a reduced body of assets to tap in their lawsuits?

We will continue to watch the Second Mile/Arrow Child progress and report back.—Rick Cohen

About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Equity-Centered ManagementFinancial ManagementNonprofit News

Our Voices Are Our Power.

Journalism, nonprofits, and multiracial democracy are under attack. At NPQ, we fight back by sharing stories and essential insights from nonprofit leaders and workers—and we pay every contributor.

Can you help us protect nonprofit voices?

Your support keeps truth alive when it matters most.
Every single dollar makes a difference.

Donate now
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

You might also like
Learning from a Near-Death Experience: How to Survive a Budget Crisis
Donnie Maclurcan
Merging Missions: Starting with Relationships and Shared Authority
Hoang Murphy
Scaling Impact: How Mergers Can Advance Housing in Communities
Priya Jayachandran
Beyond Shared Vision: Building a Collaborative Road Map
Michael Anderson
Why Legal Fear Shouldn’t Drive DEI Decisions: What Leaders Need to Know
Jennifer Johnson
Tax Provision Would Give Trump Administration Unilateral Power to Strip Nonprofit Status
Rebekah Barber and Isaiah Thompson

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
June 26th, 2:00 pm ET

From Performance Management to Mutual Commitment

Fostering a Culture of Joyful Accountability

Register
Group Created with Sketch.
July 24th, 2:00 pm ET

Organizing in Divided Times

The Relational Infrastructure We Need to Protect Democracy

Register

    
You might also like
Conservatives Attack Nonprofits on Capitol Hill
Isaiah Thompson
A drawing of interlocking gears inside of two connected human heads, likely part of a mechanical system.
Learning from a Near-Death Experience: How to Survive a...
Donnie Maclurcan
Glass-paneled exterior of the Microsoft building.
Microsoft Axes Free 365 Software for Nonprofits
Isaiah Thompson

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Donate
  • Editorial Policy
  • Funders
  • Submissions

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.