Special Kids - Special Families Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Promote, strengthen, and support individuals with disabilities and their families and caregivers. Our purpose is to provide support services to families who have a family member with a disability in a manner that provides opportunity to those in need with limited resources. The vision is "Giving People in Need the Resources, Compassion and Freedom to Achieve the Life that Everyone Deserves".
- Income
- $8.4 million
- Spending
- $8.8 million
- Spent on programs
- 90%
- Reserves
- 2.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 91%
- Employees
- 80
- Volunteers
- 97
- Highest pay
- $142,594, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 59 out of 100. Higher than 31% of charities in its peer group (health care, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
10 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 2.6 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 21% of what it owns.
Living within its means
8 of 15Spending exceeded income by 4% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 7% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1590% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 29 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 67% of charities in its peer group (health care, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 257 of 7 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, 2025, 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 (5)
- $3.4 million spent. Host Home Adult Services (Residential Services) served 51 clients in 2025. This program was developed to provide adult services to young adults with disabilities who were in the foster care system having dual diagnosis of a developmental disability and behavioral health issues. This population of older foster youth are in need of specialized adult services. The program has, since 2011, assisted other adults in locating within the community of their choice. The host home provider's role is to oversee, supervise and aid the adult with disabilities to engage and connect in the community with activities and opportunities. The adults are residing in their own home settings under supervision or in a setting with the provider; and this is funded through the Medicaid Disability Waiver system. This program continues to grow as it is serving individuals in a supported and caring manner. The case management services include 24-hour crisis intervention trainings, respite services, representative payee services, and oversight of the progression of the client's life goals.
- $2.1 million spent. Child Placement Agency Services served 47 youth in the foster care program in 2025. The foster care program became licensed by the State of Colorado in 2002. A request by El Paso County Department of Human Services was to develop a foster home network with the skill and capacity to work with youth with developmental disabilities. Since that time, other children with unique situations, especially youth with LGTBQ needs, are currently being addressed in some of the home settings. The locations of foster homes are throughout EL Paso, Teller, and the Denver Metro area. Referrals are received throughout the State. Family resource homes provide respite care to youth from birth families to other foster homes. In late 2021, the family resource homes began accepting referrals for youth in need of foster care through behavioral health referrals. These services have also expanded to include active involvement as a resource provider for the Colorado Crisis System. This system is designed to address the crisis needs of youth who are at risk of hospitalization. Respite care then becomes an alternative to out of home care. In addition, the program is an approved provider for services under the youth Medicaid Waiver systems for the Children's Habilitation Residential Program (CHRP) and the children's Extensive Waiver Program. The services include placement, respite care, mentoring and community connections; all aimed to support the family and youth. Families are receiving training in the areas of crisis intervention, trauma, diverse populations and working with various systems of care.
- $1.6 million spent. Adult Services served 80 clients in 2025. The adult day services program provides community- and facility-based programming for adults with disability, age's 18-seniors. The program allows the individuals to plan a schedule to have one or both options. Individuals can attend classes in the facility on one day and then choose to have community activities on the following day. The individuals served have a direct care provider who is trained to administer medications and attend to other medical needs. The Licensed Professional nurse trains the direct care staff, and furthermore offers classes to the community providers in need of Qualified Medication Administration Program. Care plans are created by the program nurse, who maintains close communication with parents/caregivers of the clients to ensure that support can be infused into the daily care, such as specialized diets, g-tube feedings, and adaptive equipment. The facility classes include yoga, current news discussions, themed activities, recreation, music and the arts. Infused in the program is the horticulture experience of the outdoor garden. The creation of the garden offers a haven for clients and the opportunity to have adaptable equipment to engage in the seeding, growing, tending and harvesting of the produce. Sensory activities such as digging in the soil, touching the plants, empowers clients to have direct experience. The program has been fortunate to have received various local and state grant funding to support this project. Additionally, the horticulturist is also a clinician in the community who specializes in working with people with disabilities. The community-based program allows adults to engage in recreation within the community. The community-based program had been limited in clients being able to participate in the community. The program leadership have work diligently to increase community opportunities and lengthen the time in the community with a future goal of re-establishing the amount of time and involvement in the community. Two additional programs added to adult day services in the Building Connection. This group meets weekly to participate in relationship building activities to tackle social isolation and loneliness for clients. The success is that the group has full participation. A monthly caregiver support event occurs on weekends to further address social connections with fun themes; and give the parent/caregiver a chance to have a break. This program is well attended with an occasional wait list. In November 2021, the adult day program was approved to provide home care services to clients in the community. This program is currently under process for attending to clients in their own home. This program allows a continuum of care support to individuals with disabilities.
- $529,207 spent. Zach's Place is a licensed care center that provides services to children ages 2 to 21, many of whom have developmental disabilities. We opened our doors in June of 1999. Children are provided with life skills education, develop critical safety skills, and are immersed in community inclusion activities. Families who enroll in the program schedule the care they need, including before and after school, weekdays, evenings, weekends, and overnight care. We are available 24/7. Approximately 50% of the care we provide is paid for using an 'ability to pay' fee schedule, which averages $4.46 per hour despite actual costs of $30 per hour. Among our families served, 60% are low income by HUD standards (38% have a household income of less than $30,000 with 35% earning between $30,000-$59,000 per year) and 33% are single parents. Zach's Place transports children to community-based activities and offers before- and after-school transportation, which assists working parents whose children need specialized after care. The school busing systems in the various school districts often do not suffice and many of the children in our program attend schools that are far from our facility. Therefore, to help these families, we provide as many transportation services as we can. There currently exists a wait list for individuals requesting transportation.
- $260,910 spent. The Behavioral Health program serves the mental health needs of underserved individuals and families, including those without insurance coverage for mental health services, those who can't leave their homes to access services (due to disability, lack of accessible transportation, or caregiving for a person with a disability), and those living in underserved areas. We were approved as a provider by the state's Regional Accountable Entity (RAE) in 2019 to offer counseling and specialized therapy to change behaviors, thoughts, emotions and how people see and understand situations. Our behavioral health team will consider physical, behavioral and emotional aspects of and individual's health and help determine a course of action that is best. Our team is also a CORE services provider for El Paso County DHS, offering family preservation, advocacy and supervised visits to at-risk individuals and their families.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, 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 2025.
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 January 1999.
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.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.