Cumberland Trace Legal Services Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 610916523
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Bowling Green, KY, USA
- Phone
- 2707808892
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,399,439
- Expenses
- $5,166,523
- Assets
- $5,548,315
- Liabilities
- $951,736
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Amanda Young (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Amanda Young (Executive Director): $130,171 total reported compensation
- Stuart Warren (Associate Director): $105,465 total reported compensation
- Jill Moore (Financial Administrator): $103,449 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of Kentucky Legal Aid is to assist and enable low-income families, elderly, disabled, and other vulnerable individuals in south central Kentucky resolve legal problems that are barriers to self-sufficiency and to provide these individuals an opportunity for an improved quality of life.
What it reported doing in 2025
Legal Assistance Program: to provide free legal services to qualified low income clients in a 35 county service area. Cases range from family/domestic law, elder law, public benefits, consumer law, nursing home issues, and pro bono. Approximately 4762 cases were closed in 2025. Kentucky Legal Aid's (KLA) cases were filed on behalf of low-income, disabled, and elderly individuals who qualify for free legal Assistance defined by Legal Services Corporation and other grantors. Litigation includes family law disputes, consumer actions, including foreclosures and bankruptcies, assistance in domestic violence actions, and public benefit hearings. The general public benefits from KLA's litigation by virtue of making the civil legal system available to those unable to afford private legal counsel. KLA's litigation efforts also help low-income people resolve problems and promotes self-sufficiency. KLA seeks no fees on behalf of the program in any litigation with the limited exception of cases in which the program was appointed by the court and statutory fees are specified. Fees are not solicitated from clients nor accepted from clients.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 97% 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 54
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.7%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
- 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: 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: 19.3%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.7% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.