Center for Community Solutions
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
THE MISSION IS TO END RELATIONSHIP AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE BY BEING A CATALYST FOR CARING COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE. THE VISION IS FOR ALL PEOPLE TO LIVE FULL, FREE, EXPRESSIVE, AND EMPOWERED LIVES IN A SAFE, HEALTHY, VIBRANT, AND PEACEFUL COMMUNITY.
- Income
- $6.0 million
- Spending
- $5.7 million
- Spent on programs
- 72%
- Reserves
- 6.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 77%
- Employees
- 73
- Volunteers
- 127
- Highest pay
- $176,583, ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 84 out of 100. Higher than 75% of charities in its peer group (mental health, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 6.2 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 29% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 5% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 1% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1572% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 10 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 69% of charities in its peer group (mental health, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2515 of 15 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 June 30, 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 (4)
- $2.2 million spent. Legal, Counseling, and Advocacy Services (LCAS):Legal ServicesUnder the supervision of the Legal Services Director, a team of California-licensed attorneys and legal advocates, serves survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault and is the largest no-cost legal team in San Diego County. CCS legal services include:Intimate Partner Violence Services (IPVS): IPVS services are provided in East, Central, and North San Diego County. Attorneys provide restraining order assistance every week at the El Cajon Courthouse, and pro per family law as well as at all CCS business office locations, including filling out paperwork, client consultations, and hearing preparation. Legal advocates provide crisis counseling, safety planning, intimate partner violence lethality assessments, court accompaniment, application assistance, information, referrals, and emotional support to victims of intimate partner violence. Advocates utilize their significant community connections to help survivors access safe housing, legal services, counseling, immigration services, food, clothing, and other support services. This free, confidential service is available in English and Spanish, with additional languages, including sign languages, provided by certified interpreter services.Legal Assistance for Victims: The Legal Services Director and staff attorneys, LAV provides civil legal remedies and direct representation for victims of sexual assault. CCS specializes in the civil legal needs of sexual assault victims in the following areas: housing, employment, education, privacy, safety, andfinancial compensation, as well as Civil Harassment Restraining Orders. The program assists survivors with immigration concerns through a subcontract with Casa Cornelia Law Center. CCS is San Diego's go-to legal services program for privacy law (representing victims in criminal court), and Title IX issues (sexual violenceas discrimination) throughout the County. These services are the only sexual assault-specific direct representation legal services program in San Diego County.High Risk Teams: CCS attorneys also coordinate San Diego County's Central, East, and North High-Risk Teams, a multidisciplinary response team that includes law enforcement, the City and District Attorneys Offices, several intimate partner violence service providers, and Probation. This team meets monthly in eachregion to collaborate and conduct case reviews in order to increase the safety of victims who are at serious risk of intimate partner violence-related homicide.Counseling Services:CCS Clinical Director (LMFT) leads a team of licensed and pre-licensed therapists to address the traumatic impacts of intimate partner violence and sexual assault. The Counseling Services team also includes Child/Youth advocates who support children impacted by abuse and nurture the health of the entire familysystem. Services include:Trauma-Specific Counseling: CCS operates counseling programs in North, Central, and East County. Skilled Staff Therapists provides individual, group, family, and child counseling using a variety of best practice, trauma-specific approaches, including trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), guided imagery, expressive arts therapy, play therapy, sand tray therapy, and mindfulness therapies. Our counseling program includes masters-level Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work, or Professional Clinical Counselor trainees receive intensive training, supervision, and commit twenty hours per week to CCS.Child Abuse Treatment: The program offers trauma-specific therapy and advocacy services to address the effects of trauma. CCS focuses on the childs strengths, and where the child needs support to improve their coping strategies and opportunities for healthy life choices. All services are available in English and Spanish.The program serves children who are under the age of 18 and victims of intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse and neglect, as well as witness to violence or a crime. CCS offers these services with Child Therapists and a Child Advocate. Therapists create a safe trauma-informed environment to improve coping strategies, decision-making, and assist in the development of skills to manage emotions and behaviors.Sexual Assault Services (SAS):SAS is one of the largest state-funded rape crisis centers in California and covers most of San Diego County. SAS services include crisis counseling, safety planning, trauma-informed client services, and help with connecting to other resources, including counseling, legal services, housing, medical care, food, clothing, andimmigration assistance. The SAS team also serves in leadership roles within the Countywide SART committee, a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and stakeholders committed to developing and maintaining a survivorcenteredsystems response.Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) provides emergency response to every sexual assault victim in its service area who undergoes a sexual assault forensic examination. Under the supervision of the SART Manager, CCS volunteers and staff are scheduled around-the-clock to respond within 45 minutes of a call and support the victim throughout the entire forensic examination process providing crisis support, advocacy, education, and resources. This response is in-person whenever possible and offered telephonically/virtually when needed. SAS is staffed by full-time victim advocates in Central, East, and North regions who provide follow-up services after the emergency response. Advocates also provide in-person emotional support duringdetective and attorney interviews, preliminary hearings, and other court events.CCS is a founding member of the San Diego countywide Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Systems Review Committee, a 39-year-old collaborative project which includes civilian, military, and tribal advocates; law enforcement; a
- $1.5 million spent. Housing and Advocacy Services (HAS):Intimate Partner Violence Shelters: CCS operates both short-term and long-term confidential intimate partner violence shelters. Project Safe House (PSH) is a short-term, 24-bed intimate partner violence shelter located in East San Diego County, and Hidden Valley House (HVH) is a short-term, 40-bed intimate partnerviolence shelter located in North Inland Region of San Diego County. Both shelters are staffed 24-hours per day by certified intimate partner violence counselors. Intimate partner violence victims and their children are sheltered in these programs for up to two months, based on need. While living in the shelter, they receiveadvocacy, counseling, safety planning, client services, legal assistance, food, clothing, transportation assistance, and other services and resources to help them stabilize and transition to more permanent housing. Next Step is our longer-term confidential intimate partner violence shelter program, where families that needmore time to get on their feet can stay up to eighteen months. Next Step North (NSN) is a long-term shelter consisting of five two-bedroom units and Next Step East (NSE) is one two-bedroom unit. These programs offer shelter for families for up to 18-months while stabilizing and regaining self-sufficiency. In total, Next Step offers up to 40 beds for long-term shelter. All CCS intimate partner violence shelter programs accept adults and children of all genders. Shelter services are offered in English and Spanish, with additional languages, including sign languages, provided by certified interpreter services.DV Housing First: Established in 2018, CCS addresses long-term safe and stable housing as a key component to long-term survivor self-sufficiency. The program improves the way communities respond to intimate partner and sexual violence by integrating housing stability into advocacy, assisting survivors withaccessing and/or retaining housing. CCS Housing Coordinator provides mobile advocacy, community outreach, and financial assistance for rent and other supportive services.Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Hotline Counseling: CCS provides toll-free, confidential, 24-hour hotline crisis counseling, safety planning, information, and referrals to a host of followup services, including counseling, advocacy, legal assistance, medical care, shelter, food, and clothing.Hotline counseling is provided by certified Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victim Counselors, in English and Spanish, with additional languages provided by certified interpreter services. CCS Hotline staff and volunteers, which includes a Hotline Coordinator, assist approximately 5,000 callers annually.
- $327,988 spent. Prevention, Education, and Advocacy Services (PEAS):Healthy Relationships & Violence Prevention Education: CCS is invested in the promotion of healthy relationships and the prevention of sexual and intimate partner violence through interactive, empowering education focused on topics related to the development of healthy relationships skills. For example, healthy communication and conflict resolution skills, consent-and-boundary-setting, and how to challengesocial norms and media messages that perpetuate violence throughout our communities. CCS prevention education programs are available in English and Spanish and are generally provided in schools or other community settings in a developmentally and culturally humble manner. CCS participates in the facilitation of the FACES internship program for youth in Hoover High Schoolfocusing on strengtheningprotective factors and building leadership skills. CCS Athlete Upstander Prevention Education provides healthy relationships and bystander intervention trainings to all incoming first-year student athletes at San Diego State University.Teen Dating Violence Prevention Education (TDV): TDV education programs are delivered in a multi-unit format, offered as a series of three-to-five workshops. This gives participants multiple opportunities over time to practice and refine the healthy relationship skills they are learning. TDV also allows ample time forparticipants to collaborate with their peers to identify ways they can stand up against intimate partner and sexual violence and create change by challenging the social norms that perpetuate violence. In addition to serving students from kindergarten to college, CCS staff also provides trainings for teachers and parents,addressing the importance of modeling healthy relationship, communication, and conflict resolution skills as they interact with youth. CCS Prevention & Community Engagement Specialists encourage parents to engage in meaningful conversations with their children, starting as early as preschool, understanding that healthy relationship skills can become wonderful habits if taught early.CCS prevention workshops and interactive violence prevention leadership opportunities are now part of the curriculum for the Health Studies and Social Justice Academy programs at Hoover High School in City Heights. These multi-series workshops also serve as entry points for CCS Close to Home project.High Tech High Todays Healthy Tomorrows (HT3): This year, CCS began to plan and implement our HT3 project to develop school-based prevention, intervention, treatment, and response strategies to address Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking, and Sex Trafficking for middle and high school youth enrolled in the HT High Point Loma Village schools, ages 10-19, in San Diego, California. The HT3 program staff began to identify and implement integrated, comprehensive, prevention-focused approaches that include primary prevention for HT youth, families, and youth-serving adults, as well as secondary prevention for those at increased risk, emphasizing LGBTQ youth.Close to Home (C2H) - Rape Prevention Education (RPE): Community mobilization models like Close to Home have come to the forefront of prevention efforts for both their innovative nature and their ability to incite sustainable change. The CCS prevention team has continued its work under the Close to Home (C2H) model, which was selected by the California Department of Public Health as a promising practice for sexualviolence prevention. CCS has been implementing C2H in City Heights, one of the most diverse, economically challenged, and populous communities in San Diego County. Through the C2H project, an intergenerational team of City Heights residents facilitates the development of community-designed and community-specific prevention actions. The C2H model has a demonstrated track record of producing empowering, community-led change. CCS is one of a handful of grant awardees currently implementing C2H as a sexual violence prevention strategy in the state of California.Volunteer Program: CCS recruits, trains, and supports numerous volunteers to serve as Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Counselors throughout CCS programs. Direct-service volunteers assist with SART accompaniment, hotline calls, shelter support, therapy services, legal information calls, community outreach, special events, committee service, and more.
- $86,220 spent. General Program (PRG): In partnership with Deaf Community Services and San Diego Regional Center, CCS was awarded state and federal funding to deepen each agencys capacity to serve survivors of violence who are Deaf/deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Late-Deafened, or Deaf-Blind, and/or individuals living with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Internally known as Access to Services, CCS has upgraded facilities and enhanced language access throughout the agency to ensure all survivors can equitably access services. Each organization in this collaboration has provided multiple cross-trainings for staff. The intent of the collaboration and trainings is to ensure that each entity has specific understanding of each population, and the capacity to serve high-risk and vulnerable clients who have experienced sexual and intimate partner violence.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 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 October 13, 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 October 13, 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 October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1973.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 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 21, 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.