Connecticut Legal Services Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
060955461
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Middletown, CT, USA
Phone
8603440447
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,587,499
Expenses
$14,604,520
Assets
$11,818,389
Liabilities
$7,214,925

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DEBORAH R WITKIN ESQ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBORAH R WITKIN ESQ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $272,060 total reported compensation
  • NILDA HAVRILLA ESQ (LITIGATION & ADVOCACY DIR.): $199,480 total reported compensation
  • ANNE LOUISE BLANCHARD ESQ (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $199,106 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Connecticut legal services provides access to justice and protects critical civil legal rights of low income individuals and families through representation, systemic advocacy, advice, collaboration, and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Connecticut legal services (cls) provides civil legal representation and counseling to help low income individuals and families obtain legal solutions to serious life problems. Cls protects and secures critical civil legal rights for its clients and advances acces to justice for Connecticut residents. Our areas of practice include, domestic violence/family, homelessness/housing rights, government assistance programs, employment, special education and juvenile law, elder rights, consumer law, health related issues, immigration and disability law. During the 2024-2025 fiscal year, cls opened 2,604 new cases for legal representation and counseling. We also worked on 1,406 cases opened in previous years. Cls services provided in these 4,010 cases benefited approximately 9,772 household members which includes 4,000 children. In addition to individual cases, cls conducted 60 community legal education events in 29 Connecticut towns, attended by 3,400 people.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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.
  • 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. 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: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $46.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • 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: 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: 6.3%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.61; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $12M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $272K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.