Cabrini Green Legal Aid

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362775706
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3127382452
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,111,006
Expenses
$4,597,104
Assets
$1,855,047
Liabilities
$1,700,697

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AISHA C EDWARDS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • AISHA C EDWARDS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $186,892 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Cgla provides holistic legal services that include social support services and advocacy for individuals and communities negatively impacted by the criminal legal system.

What it reported doing in 2024

Cgla's criminal records, emerging adults, and pro bono teams provide legal services to help people clear adult and juvenile records through expungement, sealing, certificates, waivers, clemency and representation of juveniles in aftercare revocation hearings. We also assist the public at our help desks located at the daley center and markham courthouses and the cook county juvenile temporary detention center. Records clearance and mitigation are the cornerstone of our partnerships with community-based organizations that specialize in workforce development, violence prevention, and homelessness prevention.civil law program includes family law and housing law services. Our family law program serves the unmet needs of individuals who are currently incarcerated in county jails or state prisons and those who are still serving sentences imposed after conviction. In 2024, cgla handled 141 family law cases for 131 clients. Housing law focuses on individuals who are at imminent risk of homelessness, due to threats of eviction or termination of subsidized vouchers due to alleged criminal activity by the leaseholder, a member of household, or a guest.our criminal defense team provided legal services to defend individuals who are facing current criminal charges and those who have been released from prison but are charged wih violating the terms of their parole.other program services include client support services and policy services and psyroll expenses. All cgla's programs are supported by our client support services group. Social workers help to srengthen legal outcomes by providing wraparound services to clients and their families. The goal is to address non-legal issues and the underlying circumstances that may have contributed to the client's legal troubles.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 70.2%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.8%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.92; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.7% of revenue deployed · 70.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $187K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.