La Causa Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391247667
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Phone
4146478750
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,128,960
Expenses
$15,878,878
Assets
$19,710,477
Liabilities
$8,896,708

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LUIS AYALA (PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • GEORGE A TORRES (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • LUIS AYALA (PRESIDENT/CEO): $301,347 total reported compensation
  • GEORGE A TORRES (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO): $140,506 total reported compensation
  • ADERSON GONZALEZ (DIRECTOR OF INFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY): $137,980 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide children, youth and families with quality, comprehensive services to nurture healthy family life and enhance community stability.

What it reported doing in 2024

Social services - la causa's social services staff is dedicated to providing a variety of high-quality, comprehensive services to support individuals in accomplishing their life goals and to empower them in their everyday lives. The programs provided by social services offer a bilingual, holistic approach towards counseling and therapy and include: 1) treatment foster care program: places and serves a distinct specialized group of foster children; 2) foster home recruitment and licensing program: recruits, licenses and trains foster parents for children with treatment and delinquency issues; 3) treatment services program: treats individuals, parents, children and families with aoda and mental health concerns; 4) recovery support coordination: provides coordination of treatment services as well as support services such as, transportation, child care, rent, clothing, etc., for individuals and their families with aoda needs; 5) wraparound programs: provides community-based services for children and their families experiencing mental health issues; 6) targeted case management: provides services to individuals with mental health issues; 7) comprehensive community services: provides a team approach to an array of recovery, treatment and psychological rehabilitation services that assist individuals in utilizing community and natural supports to address their needs; 8) ccs youth: a voluntary program that provides support and services to youth and their families coping with mental health, substance use or co-occurring needs toward improving health, wellness and the pursuit of their individual goals; 9) core program: a vountary program that provides support to youth and young adults who have experienced their first episode of psychosis. It consists of a team of providers who provide services that include therapy, care coordination, employment support and peer support.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.4%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 84.7%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $45.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 23rd 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: 1.6%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.24; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.4%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.4% of revenue deployed · 84.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $13.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $301K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.3M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.