Court Appointed Special Advocates of Union County Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
202603930
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2021
Forms available
Form 990 2021
Location
Elizabeth, NJ, USA
Phone
9082938131
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Child Abuse, Prevention

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$728,131
Expenses
$617,612
Assets
$697,198
Liabilities
$44,299

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Mariel Hufnagel (Executive Dir.): $97,565 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Recruit, train and supervise volunteers to advocate for abused, neglected and abandoned children placed in foster homes. CASA volunteers ensure children's best interests remain the priority and their needs met while working to establish a safe, stable and permanent home.

What it reported doing in 2021

The Organization recruits, trains and supervises volunteers who are appointed by a judge in family court to advocate for children in the child welfare system. This program is affiliated with Court Appointed Special Advocates of New Jersey (NJ CASA) and the National CASA/GAL Association for Children.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 61% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.5%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 15.2%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.5% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $491K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $98K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.