Conservation Corps of Long Beach

What it reported doing in 2024

On any given day, more than 150 corpsmembers ages 18-26 perform a wide assortment of environmental and community service projects throughout long beach and surrounding cities (such as signal hill, lakewood, paramount, lynwood, and south gate) including catalina island, the angeles national forest, the cleveland national forest and along the lower los angeles river. These projects include planting and caring for trees, abating litter that is at-risk for getting into our waterways, providing waste diversion assistance, building community gardens, constructing parks, maintaining wetlands, building trails, restoring native habitats, and educating the public about important environmental issues. Corpsmembers are led by professional staff skilled in arboriculture, horticulture, biology, construction, agriculture, ecology, and other relevant disciplines needed to provide cclb's programs and services. Cclb educates and trains corpsmembers providing the job skills and support for them to gain valuable work experience, earn industry-recognized certifications, and explore various career pathways.cclb is a California local certified conservation corps. Only 14 corps in the state currently qualify for this designation. The certification process is overseen and administered by the California conservation corps (ccc) and was initially a designation that served the department of resources recycling and recovery, or calrecycle. Since its inception in 1987 through the California beverage container recycling and litter reduction act, local certified corps across the state receive funding to support litter abatement and recycling activities in their catchment areas. Through the reduction act, the ccc is the responsible entity to ensure that funding is only distributed to certified corps' that have gone through a rigorous process to ensure that they are eligible annually by the following criteria:- young adults desiring to become a corpsmember are motivated to work.- participation and commitment is for an initial one year period.- the local corps operates by work crews - corpsmembers working in small groups with a crew supervisor at the helm.- the local corps program includes educational opportunities (vocational, charter, and/or post-secondary), work experience, and further personal development activities.- corpsmembers are paid at least minimum wage.- corpsmembers have access to post-program career development.- work projects offer opportunities in recycling and litter abatement, as well as other key projects including, but not limited to, park development and restoration, and fire fuels reduction.- each corps must maintain an enrollment of at least 50 young adults ages 18-26.in addition to accessing calrecycle funding through this process, local certified corps are typically eligible to compete for other state funding opportunities whereas corps that are not certified are not eligible applicants.as part of the certification process, corpsmembers are interviewed by ccc staff to review their experiences with recruitment and enrollment, project work experience, job training, educational activities, personal growth and development, community engagement, and their experiences with transition and job placement support received. The voice of the corpsmember is a critical component of this annual process. Additionally, some government funding opportunities also award more points to applicants who commit to contracting with certified local corps to perform essential environmental projects throughout the state.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 73.5%; rating input score 74
• Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
• Fundraising efficiency: $3.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • 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: 10.7%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings