Family Legal Assistance at Choc Childrens

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
830985499
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Orange, CA, USA
Phone
7145093059
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$219,426
Expenses
$164,578
Assets
$153,564
Liabilities
$113,099

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHENIECE J SMITH (President)

People named in this filing

  • SHENIECE J SMITH (President)
  • BILL ROHDE (Treasurer)
  • VANOOHI TOROSSIAN (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide free legal representation to low income families who need the services for health care purposes.

What it reported doing in 2019

This program provides free full attorney representation to low income families undergoing medical treatment at children's hospital of orange county (choc) and in need of legal services to be able to access medical care. The organization provides a limited scope of legal services, including guardianships, conservatorships, powers of attorney and advanced health care directives. Conservatorships are usually provided for severely developmentally disabled adults who need another adult to continue to consent to their care. These individuals are usually recipients of ssi, medi-cal and regional center services. Guardianships are provided to children (ages 0-17) who need medical services, but do not have biological parents present to consent to those medical services. The program helps the caregiver obtain legal authority to make medical decisions, enroll the child in school, and carry out day-to-day tasks on behalf of the child. There are times when a court order is not necessary based on the circumstances. In these cases, a power of attorney or advanced health care directive will be drafted to assist the family. The program primarily serves residents of orange county, although services have also been provided to a few families in riverside, san bernardino, and los angeles counties.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • 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: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.74; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 78.6% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 199.7% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $165K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.
  • High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is recorded as not currently operating in California.