Free to Be Programs Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953921893
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Northridge, CA, USA
Phone
8183666682
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Foster Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,851,019
Expenses
$6,371,567
Assets
$10,270,117
Liabilities
$530,861

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dawn Marie Presley (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Audrey Hughes (Executive Dir.): $330,574 total reported compensation
  • Davette Davila (Business Manager): $125,912 total reported compensation
  • Sharon L Schapiro-Weinberg (HR/COMPLIANCE SUP): $122,623 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide foster care for developmental disabled children through a foster caresystem

What it reported doing in 2025

Support system for 70 outside homes for developmentally disabled children wehire social workers and behavorial specialists to with the children and make sure that foster parents are giving them the proper care and love should have. We interview and train all prospective foester parents.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 100% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 55% for direct work, and 45% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 47
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.3%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 93.2%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35.3%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.61; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.3% of revenue deployed · 93.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 0 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $331K · 7 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $329K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.