Frontline Legal Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474182470
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2016
Location
New Orleans, LA, USA
Phone
5045103616
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$385,549
Expenses
$363,660
Assets
$118,889
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Louise Bienvenu (Co-Executive Director)
  • Penny DeNoble (Co-Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Louise Bienvenu (Co-Executive Director): $75,000 total reported compensation
  • Penny DeNoble (Co-Executive Director): $56,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide free legal and social services to people living with HIV/AIDS in Louisiana and Georgia.

What it reported doing in 2024

Frontline provided significant legal, outreach, education, and advocacy services throughout Louisiana. Through Frontline's Legal Clinics at prisons and HIV/AIDS Community Organizations across the state, we have been able to provide access to health care, fight discrimination and improve the quality of life of people living with HIV in Louisiana. Frontline staff presents to groups of inmates that are within 180 days of release, as part of the Louisiana Department of Corrections ReEntry Program. There are approximately 50 inmates in each "pre-release class" from many different parishes across the state. The presentation includes Health Education, Housing, Discrimination, Permanency Planning, and Disability, and focuses on HIV/AIDS related legal issues. Frontline then meets individually with HIV+ inmates following the presentation, accepting new cases from clients exiting the prison system, including Social Security Disability and Permanency Planning. In addition to the Legal Clinic Day, staff schedules follow up appointments with several inmates on a "Call Out" basis. Frontline opened Frontline Georgia in late 2022, and hopes to provide similar services in the Atlanta area during 2025.

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

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: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 5.7%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 39.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.3% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $364K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $75K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.