Be Free Kc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831910146
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Overland Park, KS, USA
Phone
9137063322
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alcohol, Drug and Substance Abuse, Dependency Prevention and Treatment

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$215,243
Expenses
$304,893
Assets
$77,089
Liabilities
$10,133

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • R Douglas Bastien (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • R Douglas Bastien (Executive Director): $85,800 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

By expanding access to whole-human resources, we support each person as they navigate a substance-free lifestyle.

What it reported doing in 2025

Be Free KC is committed to developing innovative initiatives that create meaningful, measurable change in recovery outcomes across Kansas City. In 2025, the organization achieved several significant milestones. Be Free KC maintained 90% or greater occupancy across its men's recovery homes and attained an 88% success rate among members who remained in the program for at least 31 days. Additionally, despite the unexpected loss of approximately $300,000 in awarded grant funding from KDADS in March due to federal DOGE-related cuts, the organization successfully navigated the funding shortfall and sustained a strong, thriving housing program. Another major accomplishment was securing approximately $20 million in State of Missouri funding to support the Recovery High School initiative, which is scheduled to open in August 2026. This investment represents a transformative step forward in expanding recovery support and educational opportunities for young people in the region.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -41.7%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 56% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -16.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -17.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 74.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $229K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $86K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.