Eric C. Twombly, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, has just checked the "Vital Signs" of the 1,100 local nonprofit organizations that serve children and youth in the Washington, D.C. region—which includes the District and its 10 surrounding Maryland and Virginia jurisdictions. For example, Falls Church, Loudoun County and Frederick County have the most providers per poor child, while Prince William and Prince George's County have the fewest.

Five Questions Archives

We began this study when a group of local foundations said to us, "We want to promote the health and viability of children in our region. We recognize that nonprofit organizations are the key deliverers of services. We don't know where they are. We don't know what they do. We don't know their structure." Indeed, nonprofit organizations are the frontline providers that help develop the cognitive, emotional and economic skills of children. But until recently there was no systematic information on nonprofits that serve kids in the D.C. region.

An interesting wrinkle here is that there have been some really dramatic environmental shifts, such as the attack on the Pentagon that both triggered an economic downturn in the region and ramped up client demands. There's been a lot of anecdotal discussion of how nonprofits haven't been able to meet clients' needs or demands.

Our research shows that, even before the events of 2001, many local nonprofits were losing money; they faced financial stressors that were jeopardizing their ability to effectively be frontline providers. We began mapping out this landscape, not only to understand where nonprofits have been, but also to understand how they're preparing for the future.

2. What kinds of services do these nonprofits offer?

It is safe to say there's a lot going on in this region. These organizations provide a host of services to local children in all income strata. The educational component alone includes early childhood education, private primary and secondary education, charter schools, after-school and mentoring programs. Then there's youth development, recreation, and leadership-organizations like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and the Boys and Girls Clubs. There's also a category of nonprofits that targets kids from poor and disadvantaged families. These are the traditional child and family "safety net" organizations, including crisis intervention, social welfare organizations that provide multiple services, and even counseling services.

Sometimes people think that charities serve only the poor. That's absolutely not the case. The organizations providing child and youth services in the D.C. region serve a wide range of kids. The Girl Scouts is a good example. They provide services to girls from all income levels and build their self-esteem. Too often, when organizations focus only on the poor, they have weak constituencies. Because of their wide reach, that's not so for many child and youth service providers in the D.C. region.

3. Which jurisdiction ranks No. 1, and why?

We examined the child and youth field in the D.C. region from a variety of perspectives. One angle was per capita measurements—that is, the ratio of nonprofits to the child and youth population. From that perspective, it's not surprising that smaller jurisdictions, like Falls Church — which ranked No. 1 — have the most nonprofits per child. Falls Church is an affluent community and has a relatively low child population.

In the faster-growing communities, like Prince William — which ranked last on per capita — the population of children appears to be growing much faster than the charitable infrastructure. That's important for policymakers and community leaders to know.

The rankings become much more complicated here in the District. There's a greater concentration of nonprofit resources, but also a greater need for services for children. We have to sort out whether large concentrations of resources translate into effective services. Do the services become duplicative? That's something else that policymakers need to examine.

4. Is there a wide discrepancy in resources for kids among the 11 jurisdictions?

There certainly is tremendous variation here. The District is front and center in nonprofit resources. But then there are the fast-growing jurisdictions that seem to have undeveloped nonprofit infrastructures. To me, this says that policymakers need to make sure that nonprofit infrastructures grow up around the population and meet the needs of children and youth. One key research finding is that the organizations that serve low-income children seem to be locating where they're physically accessible to children in need. That's a real positive sign.

More generally, what jurisdictions should try to do is line up a healthy cadre of organizations that can act collectively and effectively when times get tough. That means creating a network of high-functioning organizations that are economically healthy and tied together politically.

5. What trends do you see?

People talk about the D.C. metro area as somehow different from other metropolitan areas in the country, and that's correct from an economic standpoint. Most local economies cycle through good and bad times and are highly responsive to focusing events, like the terrorist attacks on 9/11. In this region, economic ups and downs tend to be less severe. The very large federal presence partially levels the peaks and valleys. This extra stability puts the region is in a pretty good economic position.

But there's a rub. A recent Urban Institute report on housing showed costs escalating faster than wages in the region. What that creates is downward pressure on low-income residents, particularly those in service industries. When folks can't make ends meet they often go to nonprofits. So, ironically, these organizations may see more demand in these good economic times in the region. And what that means for child and youth services — particularly with the influx of immigrant populations who may need extra help educationally — is that some nonprofits may need to shift to more basic social services, rather than providing leadership or recreational programs that build kids' self-esteem and confidence.

So I think there's a mixed outlook for child and youth nonprofits here in the region. Our economy is certainly headed in the right direction, which can be a boon for nonprofits that rely on donor support. But for some organizations, a ratcheting-up of client demands can put them in financial jeopardy. By and large, big-hearted people run these organizations, and in the nonprofit culture there's a tendency to spend everything they have, instead of putting money aside. If demands on the region's nonprofits do rise, we need a cultural shift toward building rainy-day funds that these organizations can tap when times get tough.