Community Legal Aid Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
340753560
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Akron, OH, USA
Phone
8665842350
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,863,768
Expenses
$9,891,419
Assets
$17,114,996
Liabilities
$1,903,034

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER TEODOSIO (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID BUTZ (PRESIDENT)
  • DIONNE LACEY (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • STEVEN MCGARRITY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEVEN MCGARRITY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $205,125 total reported compensation
  • LISA CARLEY (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $161,242 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Through legal advocacy, we transform the lives of those in poverty to increase opportunities, fairness, and stability, for a stronger community and justice for all.

What it reported doing in 2025

Familywhen families struggle with their internal dynamics, it can affect stability in the rest of their lives - from where they live, to whom their children live with, to how much they're able to focus on their jobs and maintain an income. Legal aid advocates work with couples who have decided that what's best for them is a clean break and a fresh start, and with victims of domestic abuse who need to permanently separate from their abuser. By helping resolve these interpersonal conflicts with legal solutions, legal aid releases the stress they feel in their home life and allows them to regain control of their lives and focus on being healthy, productive, and meaningful members of their community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 95% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.6%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th 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 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: 16.6%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.6% of revenue deployed · 81.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $205K · 20 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 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: 2 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.