Help Services Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
112234524
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Freeport, NY, USA
Phone
5163781111
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alcohol, Drug and Substance Abuse, Dependency Prevention and Treatment

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,173,870
Expenses
$1,257,440
Assets
$223,167
Liabilities
$232,603

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WILLIE WALKER JR (PRESIDENT)
  • SHANEENAH BEAU-HAWKINS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LEE STONE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LEE STONE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $107,033 total reported compensation
  • DERRICK DINGLE (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $69,697 total reported compensation
  • BRANDON FREEMAN (FISCAL MANAGER): $68,956 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide youth, family, and substance abuse and prevention services to enhance the quality of life in the community.

What it reported doing in 2018

Substance abuse prevention program - substance abuse prevention program services are designed to prevent the onset of drug abuse in young people. The primary activity of the substance abuse prevention program is a peer leadership anti-drug youth group called the operation pride youth committee. Members of this group learn about substance and tobacco abuse, strengthen their resolve to remain drug free and support each other's drug free behavior. Members conduct activities to spread an anti-drug message, including assemblies, classroom presentations, community action efforts, etc. The operation pride youth committee is run in coordination with the freeport public schools.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 92% 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

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

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

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.1%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.04; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -21.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2015 to 2018
  • 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.

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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.