Heartland for Children Inc
Overview
Mission
Heartland for Children is dedicated to improving safety, permanency, and well-being for children and families in Polk, Highlands, and Hardee Counties through foster care and related services. Heartland for Children is dedicated to ensuring every child and family receives the care and support they need, no matter where they live. Through strong leadership and partnerships across Florida, we work to create safe, stable, and nurturing environments for children. Guided by our commitment to quality and accountability, our mission is to strengthen families, provide essential resources, and improve the lives of the children we serve. Sign Up for Our Newsletter! thumbnail_COA-Accredited-Logo.png.
What it reported doing in 2024
Heartland for children (hfc) is a not-for-profit corporation serving as the lead child welfare agency in floria circuit 10 for an integrated system of care for the provision of foster care and related services. Services include: emergency shelter, in-home protective services, relative care placements, foster care, independent living, family reunification, family preservation, adoption and appropriate related services. Circuit 10 serves the tri-county area of hardee, highlands and polk counties in central Florida. Polk county's population is the 9th largest in the state, with highland county ranked 36th in population and hardee ranked 50th. The clients served are those children and families, residing in hardee, highland or polk counties, referred by the department of children and families, an agency handling protective investigations, or by the court, and who are in need of child protection and/or permanency services, which include the following: * families known to the department with children at risk of abuse, neglect and/or abandonment; * children who have been abused, neglected and/or abandoned by their families; and * child victims of abuse, neglect, and/or abandonment who become eligible for adoption or have already been adopted. During fiscal 2025, approximately 6,000 clients were served by heartland for children in circuit 10. The program expense figure of $66,101,884 does not include administrative expenses of $1,993,275.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 020619609
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Website reviewed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Headquarters
- Bartow, FL, United States
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Services
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and the website gives limited detail about important organizational relationships.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 97
- Transparency & Controls: 64
- Accountability: 92
- Sustainability: 27
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 96.9%; rating input score 97
- Program expense ratio: 97.1%; rating input score 97
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
- Public monitoring controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public policy transparency: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public financial transparency: 0 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Impact reporting controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public relationship transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Public governance controls: 1 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 0.17; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.72; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.2%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 96.9% of revenue deployed · 97.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $66.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $201K · 14 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 annual filings from 2020 to 2024
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.