Casas - Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510618827
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
8582922900
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,551,409
Expenses
$9,859,077
Assets
$9,667,839
Liabilities
$1,074,759

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JANE EGUEZ (CEO/President)

Highest reported compensation

  • JANE EGUEZ (CEO/President): $175,349 total reported compensation
  • DEBALINA GANGULI (CFO/DIR OF RSCH): $169,482 total reported compensation
  • LAURA FETTER-CHARDIET (PROG DEL MGR): $144,243 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The specific purpose of this corporation is to assist adults and older youth, functioning at or below a high school level in attaining the basic literacy skills to function effectively on the job, in the community, in the family and in transitioning to postsecondary education or training programs. The organization will accomplish its goals by assisting state and local education, training, social service programs and businesses in the design and delivery of quality education and training programs that meet the needs of the participants by providing products and services in assessment, and evaluation systems and curriculum management.

What it reported doing in 2024

Adult education, english literacy and civics education: casas has established and maintains a comprehensive performance accountability system for agencies funded with federal workforce innovation and opportunity act (wioa) title ii funds and California adult education state funds. The wioa, title ii program is the major source of federal support for adult basic education and literacy education programs. This legislation makes accountability for student results a central focus of the law, setting out performance accountability requirements for state and local programs that measure program effectiveness on the basis of student academic achievement and employment-related outcomes. Casas has also established and maintains a comprehensive performance accountability system for agencies funded with federal- wioa ii english literacy and civics (el civics) funds. This program provides english literacy and civics education services to immigrants and other limited english proficient populations so they can effectively participate in education, work, and civic opportunities in this country. Immigrants and other limited english proficient persons must not only master english, but be able to understand and navigate governmental, educational, workplace systems and key institutions, such as banking and health care. Casas provides the assessment tools used for pre- and post-testing of all students in these programs, the data collection and reporting system, training and technical assistance, and evaluation to local adult literacy agencies. The resulting data allows local and state programs, and eventually at the national level the data to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the adult education and literacy activities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.3%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.6%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.3% of revenue deployed · 91.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $175K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $948K reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.