Community Action Council of Howard County, Maryland Inc.

Legal name: Community Action Council of Howard County Maryland Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520823083
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbia, Maryland, US
Phone
410-313-6440
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$25,644,489
Expenses
$24,288,162
Assets
$22,749,542
Liabilities
$6,061,783

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TRACY BROCCOLINO (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • TRACY BROCCOLINO (PRESIDENT): $242,914 total reported compensation
  • GARY CHRISTOPHER (WEATHERIZATI): $207,267 total reported compensation
  • DEAN TURNER (STAFF/INFO S): $189,243 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To diminish poverty and enable self-sufficiency for all Howard County individuals, families, and communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Early childhood education: cac provides full-day, full-year early childhood education programming to children birth-to-five years old. The program includes early head start, head start preschool and msde pre-k programming and provides academic and developmental intervention services as needed. Cac uses a 2-generational approach focusing on the children and family in a holistic manner by pairing access to quality early childhood education with opportunities for the family to focus on long-term self-sufficiency goals such as education and employment. Cac maximizes its resources and supports the family using a person-centered case management approach to generate positive outcomes in the self-sufficiency of the family. Children in the program receive breakfast, lunch, and a snack daily. The program is accredited by the national association for the education of young children and by the Maryland state department of education, as well as licensed by the Maryland office of child care. In fy 2025, only 24 of the 253 total licensed childcare programs in howard county were rated at the highest level of the Maryland excels. Four of cac's early childhood education centers are among the 24 that received the highest ranking, with the fifth and newest center on track to do so by the end of 2026.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 82% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 47% for direct work, and 53% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $53.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 5.3%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.94; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 10 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 84.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $20.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $243K · 25 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.2M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.