Illinois Action for Children

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362712912
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
(312) 823-1100
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$60,569,461
Expenses
$61,096,552
Assets
$21,388,943
Liabilities
$13,719,386

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • April Janney (President/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • April Janney (President/CEO): $396,983 total reported compensation
  • Jacqueline Zanders (Chief Financial Officer): $283,922 total reported compensation
  • Shauna Ejeh (SVP, Programs): $244,280 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Illinois Action for Children works to ensure that all children in Illinois have access to safe, affordable, quality child care and early learning opportunities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Parent services/child care resource and referral services - as the child care resource and referral agency for cook county, Illinois action for children connects children and families with vital resources like child care referrals, health services, and community support. In fiscal year ended june 30, 2025, almost 7,175 children and families received referrals while thousands more under-served children also had access to literacy, mental health, and nutrition resources as a result of Illinois action for children's work. Illinois action for children was in the 5th year of a 5 year head start grant from the united states department of health and human services (usdhhs) during fiscal year 2025. Illinois action for children's head start and early head start locations utilize evidence-based approaches to serving low-income children and families in a respectful, understanding partnership with them. Children receive services that promote child development across many areas. In fiscal year 2025 we were able to serve 800 families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 95% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 85% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 91.1%; rating input score 91; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.64; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 93.7% of revenue deployed · 92.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $56.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $397K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.1M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 37 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 68 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 60 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.