Criminal Justice Alternatives

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
561138957
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone
9198567594
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,135,246
Expenses
$2,113,030
Assets
$21,420
Liabilities
$81,243

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELANIE SHEKITA (PRESIDENT)
  • CRYSTAL REARDON (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JENNIFER GIBBS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER GIBBS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $110,959 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 provide relevant information and program services to the Juvenile, District and Superior Court of Wake County, North Carolina.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Pretrial Services/Monitoring Program provides pertinent information to the First Appearance District Court judge at the person's first appearance court hearing after being arrested and booked into the Wake County jail. The information includes prior criminal history, need for special conditions (e.g. no contact for domestic violence offenders, mental health history/needs, physical health history/needs) that are relevant for release considerations. Pretrial Services staff verifies the defendant's information with an uninvolved reference person suggested by the defendant. The Program allows certain defendants to be monitored in the community at minimal cost to the county, work to support themselves and their families while they are waiting for the Court case to be resolved.All offenders who are ordered to the Pretrial Release Program must report to their case manager on the next business day following their release from jail custody. The person is required to appear at all scheduled court dates, contact their assigned case manager (or designee) weekly on a specific day, and not be arrested for any additional charges. Additionally, they must comply with all pretrial release conditions ordered by the judge and keep the case manager informed of any changes of residence. Pretrial Services Program staff request revocation of pretrial release if the offender does not comply with the contact schedule or if the offender obtains new charges or violates any of the conditions set by the court while on pretrial release. Should any of the aforementioned situations arise, an order is written by the court and the defendant is rearrested and returned to the jail custody.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 86% 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.6%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 98.6%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.01; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.79; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.6% of revenue deployed · 98.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.