Catholic Charities of Los Angeles

Legal name: Catholic Charities of Los Angeles Inc

Overview

Mission

Catholic Charities is committed to manifesting Christ’s spirit by collaborating with diverse communities, providing services to the poor and vulnerable, promoting human dignity, and advocating for social justice. In the early days of Los Angeles, Catholic women organized a charitable society to provide care for the homeless and the poor in an area of downtown Los Angeles that was known as Charity Street. Relief was offered through soup kitchens and food pantries. The various Catholic charitable groups that were providing services throughout the city were formally organized by the Church as the Bureau of Catholic Charities in 1919. The agency was founded with the purpose of meeting the immediate needs of families and initiating new service programs as required. In 1936, the Archdiocese was formally elevated from the Diocese of Los Angeles – San Diego and the Catholic Welfare Bureau...

What it reported doing in 2024

The shelter programs of catholic charities are aimed at ending homelessness and stabilizing clients' lives through housing, employment and supportive services. They are designed to move clients from "in crisis" situations to safe and stable housing. Individuls are offered a safe haven and the tools needed to lead self sufficient lives. Four emergency and transitional housing programs/education based shelters are operated through the good shepherd center and solely serve women and women with children who are healing from domestic violence. * languille emergency shelter * farley house * hawkes transitional residence * angel guardian home (for more details please see schedule o.) two shelters to support the needs of transitional youth: * angel's flight, at risk youth shelter * jobe, transitional living for former foster care youth the other two shelters include: * elizabeth ann seton residence located in long beach, this is an emergency shelter that provides temporary housing up to 45 days, for families, pregnant women, disabled singles and the elderly. * mcgill street house, a transitional facility owned by the city of covina, which is designed to serve 2 family units (a total of 7 beds) at a time.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The program-spending lines do not add up, so the filing cannot show reliably whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951690973
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
(213) 251-3400
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Human Service Organizations
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The available information about grant readiness federal audit leaves an important question unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.5%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 91.5%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $54.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.3%; rating input score 94; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.5%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.86; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 84.5% of revenue deployed · 91.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 33 of 35 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $59.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $243K · 41 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
  • Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Leadership & pay

41 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ALEXANDRIA M ARNOLD (DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATION): $242,625 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL O'BRIEN (CFO): $220,968 total reported compensation
  • LELAND RATLEFF (HUAMN RESOURCES DIRECTOR): $173,780 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.