Disability Legal Services of Indiana Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 262096859
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2008
- Location
- Indianapolis, IN, USA
- Phone
- 3174267733
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $247,827
- Expenses
- $185,925
- Assets
- $392,300
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Margaret Jones JD (Executive Director)
- Mary Jo Wedding JD (President)
- Hannah Carlock (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Margaret Jones JD (Executive Director): $98,502 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 organization offers free and low cost legal services to Indiana children and adults with disabilities. The organization was formed to address the lack of affordable legal representation for disabled children and adults; specifically in the area of education law.
What it reported doing in 2025
Congress has found that individuals with disabilities constitute one of the most disadvantaged groups in society. Individuals with disabilities continually encounter various forms of discrimination in such critical areas as employment and education. The organization uses it resources to remove barriers and ensure that Hoosiers with disabilities have full access to educational opportunities pursuant to federal and state laws and regulations so that these individuals can receive an appropriate education, pursue meaningful careers, and contribute to society. Indiana has more than 200,000 children with disabilities who receive special education services, many of them live below federal poverty levels. This vulnerable population is often overlooked when it comes to education. The organization assists these children by providing low and no-cost legal advocacy to ensure they have access to appropriate educational services. In 2025, the organization successfully advocated for the rights of these students to receive an appropriate education with special education services designed for their unique needs. Without the organization's assistance, these families would not have been able to access legal assistance. The organization's positive impact often extends beyond the individual student.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 52
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 63
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 48.3%; rating input score 48
- Program expense ratio: 63.9%; rating input score 64
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: 25%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.11; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 53%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 48.3% of revenue deployed · 63.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $119K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $99K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.