Hospice of Santa Barbara Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
As the second oldest hospice in America, hospice of Santa Barbara continues to grow in depth and range as we care for anyone facing a life threatening illness or grieving the loss of a loved one. We provide ongoing support services - including care management, professional individual and group counseling, mentorship and compassionate caregiving - to children, teens, adults and families. Services are provided at our main office, in homes, on school campuses, workplaces, hospitals, convalescent homes and long-term nursing facilities. Hospice of Santa Barbara provides all its professional services free to the community and receives no government or insurance reimbursements.
- Income
- $4.2 million
- Spending
- $4.5 million
- Spent on programs
- 72%
- Reserves
- 6.3 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 93%
- Employees
- 52
- Volunteers
- 109
- Highest pay
- $214,447, ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 78 out of 100.
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 6.3 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 25% of what it owns.
Living within its means
4 of 15Spending exceeded income by 5% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 38% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1572% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 19 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100.
Independent board
25 of 2512 of 12 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $1.4 million spent. Bereavement ServicesBereavement, Anticipatory Bereavement, Mortality Threat and End of Life Counseling Services are offered at Hospice of Santa Barbara for both adults and children. All services are offered freely to all clients.Modalities include individual counseling and relationship-based process groups or activity-based support-groups such as Writing, Poetry, Song, and Art.Adult individual bereavement counseling is limited to 25 months of service for intimate relationships of parent/child (up to age 25 years) and spousal/partner loss toward getting through the 2nd death anniversary and holiday season, whichever comes last assuming our Mission subject remains valid.All other adult bereavement counseling is limited to 13 months of service toward getting through the 1st death anniversary or holiday season, whichever comes last assuming our Mission subject remains valid.There is no service limit for children, adult anticipatory bereavement, or end of life.We have community partner outreach at all six (6) public secondary schools in Santa Barbara and Goleta, Santa Ynez Valley Union High School and the entire Carpinteria Unified School District each school is assigned a counselor for weekly therapy sessions on their campus.Additional Community partners include support groups for the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation and most recently Partners for Kids, an interagency and interdisciplinary pediatric concurrent model of care lead by Visiting Nurse Association Health (VNA Health) and Cottage Health System.We also have a satellite office in Carpinteria.All services are conducted by CA Board of Behavioral Sciences Licensed, Associate, or Trainee clinical staff currently we have twenty- three (23) available clinicians.Many of our clients are with co-morbid mental health conditions and primary attachment injuries that become activated with our Mission subject we work broadly with our clients within scope of practice, given clinical preparation/training, clinical supervision and available clinical consultation.The goal of our work is to help the clients resolve their subjective distress associated with our Mission subject expressed as acceptance, integration, or resolved enough to adaptively move forward without further counseling assistance.DURING 2024 HSB SERVED 824 NEW BEREAVEMENT CLIENTS; OF WHICH, 602 WERE ADULTS AND 222 WERE CHILDREN. HSB CONDUCTED 7,444 SESSIONS; OF WHICH, 5,934 WERE ADULTS AND 1,510 WERE CHILDREN.
- $1.1 million spent. Patient Care ServicesHSB'S PATIENT CARE SERVICES TEAM OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORKERS, CARE COORDINATORS, SPIRITUAL CARE COUNSELOR, AND VOLUNTEERS STRIVE TO ENSURE CLIENTS RECEIVE PRECISELY THE EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL AND PRACTICAL SUPPORT THEY NEED. INDIVIDUALIZED CARE COORDINATION FOR CLIENTS CAN BEGIN WITH THE DIAGNOSIS OF AN ILLNESS AND EXTEND INTO SURVIVORSHIP OR END OF LIFE BEREAVEMENT.PATIENT CARE SERVICES CONTINUES TO PROVIDE UP TO FOUR LEVELS OF CAREUNDER THE "CONTINUUM OF CARE" ESTABLISHED IN THE SPRING OF 2014: CAREMANAGEMENT (FOR THE NEWLY DIAGNOSED PATIENT WHO MAY RECOVER FROM THEIR ILLNESS); Palliative Care Management (for those in treatment but not expected to recover); ANTICIPATORY GRIEF (FOR THE LOVED ONES AND/OR CAREGIVERS OF A PATIENT LIVING WITH LIFE THREATENING ILLNESS); AND BEREAVEMENT CAREMANAGEMENT (FOR THE SURVIVING LOVED ONE AFTER THE DEATH OF A PATIENT).OUR 109 ACTIVE VOLUNTEERS PROVIDED AN ANNUAL TOTAL OF 3,385 HOURSVOLUNTEERED TO OUR COMMUNITY. PATIENT CARE VOLUNTEERS OFFERED RESPITETO CAREGIVERS AND IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERSWITH THOUGHTFUL COMPANIONSHIP, RESPITE CARE, HELP WITH HOUSEHOLD CHORES AND ERRANDS, AND ASSISTING WITH TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS. NO ONE DIES ALONE (NODA) VOLUNTEERS PROVIDE A REASSURING PRESENCE TO ACTIVELY DYING PATIENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY LIVING IN NURSING HOMES WHO WOULD OTHERWISE BE ALONE. NODA VOLUNTEERS PROVIDE PATIENTS WITH THAT MOST VALUABLE OF HUMAN GIFTS: A DIGNIFIED DEATH. IN 2024, HSB CONTINUED COLLABORATIONS WITH VARIOUS COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO DELIVER CRATES OF FRESH FOOD MEALS FOR FOOD INSECURE PATIENTS & FAMILIES AND LOW-INCOME SENIORS. HSB ALSO ESTABLISHED AN MOU WITH STARFISH CONNECTION, PROVIDING IN-KIND QUALITY OF LIFE GRANTS (UP TO $1,500) TO EASE THE FINANCIAL BURDEN OF THOSE LIVING WITH ILLNESS.
- $649,392 spent. Community Education & EngagementHSBs community education program seeks to engage and empower people with information on aging, illness, dying, death, and bereavement. We offer a variety of educational opportunities including, but not limited to: on site workplace presentations, on-site community organization presentations, visiting lectures, workshops, staff/volunteer support training & discussion groups. Over the past three years, we have focused heavily on bringing education and awareness to the community around Advance Care Planning through Get It Done SB! (English initiative) and Mi Regalo (Spanish initiative). Together we have completed over 1000 Advance Directives, partnered with over 70 community organizations, trained over 30 volunteers to help us spread the message, and launched a community wide PR campaign. In 2024 we successfully piloted an embedded strategy with SBNC and County Public Health Neurology Clinic, placing staff and volunteers inside the clinic to better reach an older and sick demographic. We also diversified our medical referral partners to include Santa Barbara Artificial Kidney Center and Cottage Health Sepsis Department. We continue to actively seek new partners and have warm leads including American Indian Health Services, Tri County Regional Center, and Cottage Health Congestive Heart Failure Clinic.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 1975.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
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