Community Health Law Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222136004
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
South Orange, NJ, USA
Phone
9732751175
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,069,460
Expenses
$8,081,936
Assets
$3,511,627
Liabilities
$1,615,545

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIKA KERBER (PRESIDENT/EXEC. DIR.)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIKA KERBER (PRESIDENT/EXEC. DIR.): $228,381 total reported compensation
  • SEAN BENOIT (DIRECTOR OF LITIGATION): $156,037 total reported compensation
  • JAMES LORENZ (FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR): $152,815 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 deliver legal and advocacy services to the developmentally and mentally disabled, the blind and visually impaired, the physically disabled, people living with HIV/AIDS and the special needs of the elderly living in the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community health law project, inc. (chlp) provides legal and advocacy services for mental health consumers, developmentally disabled consumers, HIV consumers, blind and visually impaired consumers, deaf and hard of hearing consumers with other physical disabilities, and the frail elderly. Services include: securing social security disability and other benefits, resolving family matters such as domestic violence, visitation and support, protecting housing and private resources, protection of civil rights and liberties and other legal concerns. Services to advocates, agencies and families includes: in service training and technical assistance. Services to the HIV population is similar to other individuals assisted by the organization. However, the issues must relate to their health condition. Thus, advocating and representing clients in the areas of housing, income benefits, family, wills, substitute decision making, debt and foreclosure, access to health care and social services, and the protection of rights is the crux of the program. This fiscal year, chlp served 1988 mental health consumers, 254 clients with developmental disabilities, 314 clients with HIV, and 153 blind and visually impaired clients.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 79% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

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: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $119.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th 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: 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: 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.2%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.7%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.9% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $228K · 27 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.