GiveBetter x Los Angeles

Sycamores

Community mental health, family support, residential care, housing and mobile crisis response

Research time: 7 min on GPT-6 Astra Light
  • Research — reviewed programs, finances and impact evidence.

Updated: 2026-09-14

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Summary

What do they do? Sycamores combines community mental-health treatment with residential care, housing, school support and mobile crisis response. The estimate uses its large community/clinic program as a clinical component while charging the entire recipient's resources. Its teams work with young people and families across clinics, schools, homes and crisis settings.

Why we’re interested in this organization:

  • The organization participated in relevant randomized modular youth-therapy research.

  • Current services include sustained clinical care, not just crisis contacts or awareness.

  • Original returns identify a substantial clinical budget and allow gross-cost reconciliation.

Our main reservations:

  • The cost per compatible treatment course and response to new funding are subjective assumptions.

  • The QALY bridge comes from children with epilepsy in the UK, not an observed Sycamores health effect.

  • Housing, residential, crisis and training benefits remain unpriced; the component price is not a portfolio ranking.

What do you get for your dollar? $140.9M per better life: ten additional quality-adjusted life years in Los Angeles. Conditional clinical-component estimate charging full recipient expenses; other program effects are not estimated.

D*e/u=2043.628 compatible offer-equivalents; after transfer and funding, 255.4535 reference-effect-equivalent offers; geography and timing yield 4.91066 LA QALYs. Counts are modeled expectations, not observed marginal patients.

1. What do they do?

This report covers the whole Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services recipient, EIN 95-1691005. Its current portfolio includes outpatient and intensive family treatment, residential care, school services, housing, mobile crisis response and professional training. The behavioral-health page describes integrated therapy, medication support, substance-use care and wraparound services.

The crisis program operates in both LA and Riverside Counties; CIRCLE handles non-urgent calls concerning unhoused people in the San Fernando Valley. Neither every crisis response nor every person reached is a suicide averted. The modeled LA/Orange share of the clinical component is 90%, an explicit residence judgment rather than headquarters attribution.

2. Monitoring and information sharing

The homepage reports reaching over 37,000 children, youth and families. That broad reach measure is not a denominator of unique completed clinical courses. The education page separately reports over 1,175 students in 2024–25 and 81% with improved symptoms; neither establishes incremental improvement versus alternative care.

A practice implementation study compares routine modular-therapy outcomes with research benchmarks. It supports feasibility but is not a new randomized donation experiment. The next useful evidence is unique clinical offers, diagnosis and age eligibility, course intensity, CHU9D or equivalent follow-up, payer replacement and residence. Deduplicate clients moving among school, clinic, housing and crisis services.

3. Qualitative assessment

The California Child STEPs trial, with Hathaway-Sycamores investigators, randomized community therapists treating 138 children to modular MATCH therapy or county-supported evidence-based alternatives. Caregiver-reported improvement was 60% versus 36.7%, with faster clinical and functional improvement under MATCH. This is unusually relevant evidence of treatment quality, but it is not a 23.3-percentage-point effect of every ordinary donation today: alternative providers may now use similar methods.

The MICE economic trial supplies a separate health bridge: Table 3 reports about 0.022 additional child QALY over 12 months for a modified modular intervention. It studied 334 UK children with epilepsy and mental-health disorders; utility measurement was almost entirely caregiver-proxy report and economic data were incomplete. Transfer to Sycamores is a substantial judgment. The model halves the effect, limits it to compatible offers and adds no lifetime extrapolation or second clinical-response multiplier.

The numerical illustration covers the large community/clinic service line, which represents about 59% of gross recipient expense. Residential, housing and crisis pathways could add important health value, or create harms and substitution. Their omission is not evidence of zero value and prevents interpreting this as a whole-portfolio return.

4. What do you get for your dollar?

FY2025 gross recipient expense is $69,182,014: Form 990 Part IX $69,100,380 plus $81,634 direct event costs netted against revenue. Corresponding FY2024 and FY2023 totals are $67,014,960 and $63,268,616. The three-year mean is $66,488,530. No rental, gaming or inventory addback was shown. 2025 return 2024 2023

Schedule D records no donated-service expense exclusion in these years. For FY2025, $69,078,551 audited-statement expense plus $21,829 investment expenses reconciles to Part IX before restoring event costs. Recognized donated goods are not added twice. This is gross accrual recipient cost, not cash spending or a consolidated audit valuation of every volunteer hour. Filed reconciliation

The conditional clinical model yields 4.91 LA QALYs at full recipient cost, or approximately $140.88 million per 10. Joint positive stress cases range from $3.37 million to $249.06 billion, not confidence limits. The financial denominator is observed; the assumed $10,000 per compatible clinical offer and other transfer/funding parameters are not observed unit costs. A whole-portfolio price remains unknown.

For the entire recipient to achieve $1 million per 10 LA QALYs requires 691.82014 annual net LA QALYs; $100,000 requires 6,918.2014. Outside medical care, housing resources not recorded here and family time remain additional social costs, not deductions from the donation denominator.

Model, assumptions and sensitivity

Full recipient resources; priced health is a dominant-clinical component, not entire portfolio.

g=.9 is a clinical residence prior excluding Riverside; not an observed share and not applied to nationwide training.

Q_component=(D*e/u)*q*t*b*g/(1+d). D=40872560,e=.5,u=10000,q=.022,t=.5,b=.25,g=.9,d=.03 gives Q=4.91065951456; Price10=10*69182014/Q. Q_portfolio=Q_component+Q_other-H; unpriced Q_other remains unknown.

C
69182014 USD full annual recipient resources (observed). Part IX plus event costs. [99025]
D
40872560 USD community/clinic service expense (observed). Largest Part III service line; used only to model delivery, not the cost denominator. [99025]
e
0.5 compatible clinical budget share (judgment). Half of the service line is assumed suitable for a modular youth-treatment offer; test .2–.8. [clinical] [match]
u
10000 USD clinical service-line resources per compatible offer (judgment). Conservative planning prior, not an observed unit cost; test 5000–20000. Includes clinical direct and support activity within D. [clinical] [99025]
q
0.022 additional child QALY per randomized offer over 12 months (observed). Rounded MICE Table 3 child estimate, not combined caregiver QALYs or per completed session. [mice] [mice-original]
t
0.5 effect transfer (judgment). Different clinical population and modern alternative care; test .1–1. [match] [mice]
b
0.25 proportional funding responsiveness (judgment). Capacity change after public and donor substitution; test .05–.75. [99025] [capital]
g
0.9 LA/Orange resident share of clinical component (judgment). Riverside excluded; residence distribution not observed. Test .7–.98. [school] [crisis]
d
0.03 one-year delivery discount (judgment). Discounts future annual offer once; q already includes a finite 12-month trajectory.
Q_other
null additional non-overlapping LA portfolio QALYs (unknown). Residential, housing, crisis and training pathways remain unpriced. [portfolio]

Conditional dominant-clinical component: Cost: $69.2M; Los Angeles QALYs: 4.910659514563106; all-population QALYs: 5.456288349514562. u,e,q,t,b,g=10000,0.5,0.022,0.5,0.25,0.9; d=.03. Not a whole-portfolio bound.

Weak delivery and transfer: Cost: $69.2M; Los Angeles QALYs: 0.0027777467961165045; all-population QALYs: 0.003968209708737864. u,e,q,t,b,g=20000,0.2,0.002,0.1,0.05,0.7; d=.03. Not a whole-portfolio bound.

Favorable delivery and transfer: Cost: $69.2M; Los Angeles QALYs: 205.33104316893198; all-population QALYs: 209.52147262135918. u,e,q,t,b,g=5000,0.8,0.044,1,0.75,0.98; d=.03. Not a whole-portfolio bound.

Child plus caregiver component sensitivity: Cost: $69.2M; Los Angeles QALYs: 20.089061650485434; all-population QALYs: 22.321179611650482. u,e,q,t,b,g=10000,0.5,0.09,0.5,0.25,0.9; d=.03. Uses .090 combined child/caregiver QALY; verify caregiver residence and avoid overlap.

Whole-portfolio return unestimated: Cost: $69.2M; Los Angeles QALYs: unknown; all-population QALYs: unknown. Other pathways cannot be treated as zero for ranking.

Complete replacement or no component benefit: Cost: $69.2M; Los Angeles QALYs: 0; all-population QALYs: 0. b=0 or t=0.

Illustrative net component harm: Cost: $69.2M; Los Angeles QALYs: -1; all-population QALYs: -1. One LA QALY lost is a stress test, not observed harm.

Counterfactual: County-supported alternative therapy and existing capacity continue; funding responsiveness concerns extra recipient resources, not the absence of all services. MICE already compares with enhanced usual care.

Attribution: Use clinical offers once, not all 37000 people reached or every crisis encounter. No multiplication by the separate MATCH improvement rate, session count or completion probability. Caregiver effects appear only in a separately labeled sensitivity.

Conditional component best estimate with subjective delivery and transfer priors; not a complete portfolio estimate or statistical interval. Zero and adverse outcomes are possible.

Sensitivity

  • Central component $140881308.91/10; favorable $3369291.51; weak $249058028243.33; family $34437653.29.
  • Required whole-portfolio LA health at $1m/10 is 691.82014 QALYs; at $100k/10 is 6918.2014.
  • Halving compatible budget share, funding responsiveness or transfer doubles positive price; doubling cost per offer also doubles it.
  • q is finite 12-month health area; no lifetime extension. Clinic recipients and caregivers may overlap with housing and crisis pathways.

Unresolved inputs

  • Observed compatible course costs and unique annual offers.
  • Current marginal funding gap and reimbursement substitution.
  • LA/Orange residence and clinical case mix.
  • Local causal utility outcomes and non-overlapping residential, housing and crisis effects.

5. Funding and previous grants

FY2025 government grants were $67,934,754, against total revenue of $74,686,044. Net assets were $18,899,456, including $14,037,548 without donor restrictions; cash and savings together were $1,843,950. These amounts do not identify a currently unfilled unrestricted service gap. Original return

The state's May 2025 announcement describes funded crisis-facility development in Altadena. Planned slots are not verified delivered outcomes, and existing capital commitments belong in the baseline. The education service page also identifies CYBHI public funding. New gifts may fund uncovered care or improve implementation, but may also substitute for contracts, reserves or other donors.

The 25% funding responsiveness assumption means that a proportional recipient funding increment changes one-quarter of corresponding clinical capacity. It is a judgment, not a claim that 25% of current clients would otherwise receive no help. An uncovered staffing proposal, caseload evidence and public-contract renewal terms could materially revise it. No outreach or gift was made.

Annual expenses

Organization-level spending, including programs, administration and fundraising. The research list averages three comparable, consecutive full fiscal years when available.

  • FY 2023: $63.3M; Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, EIN 95-1691005, 12-month period, June-ending gross Form 990 accrual expense: Part IX plus direct event expenses; Schedule D has no donated-service exclusion.. Source
  • FY 2024: $67.0M; Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, EIN 95-1691005, 12-month period, June-ending gross Form 990 accrual expense: Part IX plus direct event expenses; Schedule D has no donated-service exclusion.. Source
  • FY 2025: $69.2M; Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, EIN 95-1691005, 12-month period, June-ending gross Form 990 accrual expense: Part IX plus direct event expenses; Schedule D has no donated-service exclusion.. Source

6. Sources

  1. FY2025 Form 990, filed May 4, 2026. Sycamores / IRS. Published: 2026-05-04; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  2. FY2024 Form 990. Sycamores / IRS. Published: 2025-05-12; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  3. FY2023 Form 990. Sycamores / IRS. Published: 2024-05-15; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  4. FY2025 expense reconciliation. Sycamores / IRS. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  5. FY2024 expense reconciliation. Sycamores / IRS. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  6. FY2023 expense reconciliation. Sycamores / IRS. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  7. Current recipient reach. Sycamores. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  8. Behavioral health services. Sycamores. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  9. School services and reported outcomes. Sycamores. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  10. Mobile crisis and CIRCLE geography. Sycamores. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  11. Housing support. Sycamores. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  12. California randomized modular treatment comparison. Chorpita and colleagues / JCCP. Published: 2016-08-22; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  13. Practical MATCH implementation benchmarking. MATCH investigators. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  14. MICE randomized economic evaluation; Table 3 visually verified. Ganguli and colleagues / BJPsych Open. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  15. Repository original MICE economic article. University of Cambridge. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  16. Publicly funded Altadena crisis capacity. California DHCS. Published: 2025-05-16; retrieved: 2026-09-14.
  17. Current service portfolio. Sycamores. Published: not stated; retrieved: 2026-09-14.