Children's Law Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061381700
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Hartford, CT, USA
Phone
8602329993
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Crime, Legal Related N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,609,787
Expenses
$1,527,295
Assets
$2,080,963
Liabilities
$442,133

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURA POST (IMM PAST PRESIDENT)
  • PAM MAGNANO (PRESIDENT)
  • CARA HARDACKER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JUSTINE RAKICH-KELLY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JUSTINE RAKICH-KELLY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $165,394 total reported compensation
  • RANDA HOJAIBAN (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $126,801 total reported compensation
  • GINA MARCANTONIO (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $104,925 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote the best possible outcomes for children and families in transition or crises by providing access to legal services and support they could not otherwise afford and by advancing collaborative, non-adversarial options for resolving conflicts outside the court system.

What it reported doing in 2025

Operate to meet the needs of vulnerable children for high quality committed legal representation through an attorney / case worker team approach.

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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.3%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 64th 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: 5.1%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.36; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.3% of revenue deployed · 75.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.