Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
952690540
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3239803500
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,367,212
Expenses
$5,258,131
Assets
$6,244,199
Liabilities
$1,544,326

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CRISTYN CHADWICK (PRESIDENT)
  • ALANNA HERNANDEZ (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CARMEN MCDONALD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARMEN MCDONALD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $229,023 total reported compensation
  • JIMENA VASQUEZ (DIRECTOR OF LEGAL SERVICES): $174,455 total reported compensation
  • JANE BYUN (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $157,040 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The survivor justice center secures justice for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and empowers them to create their own future.

What it reported doing in 2024

As a leader in our field, survivor justice center is at the forefront of several initiatives focused on better serving survivors. The center is continuing its work as a lead partner for a sargent shriver civil counsel act project, which provides free legal services to low-income families in high-conflict custody disputes, a large percentage involving domestic violence. The center has also continued to expand its efforts to serve families involved in the dependency system, lead partnerships to improve access to justice for survivors in rural areas, and also lead a collaborative for mental health, disabilities and legal services agencies to promote cross-collaboration and seamless, trauma-informed services for survivors. Finally, the center has expanded its legal advocacy and representation in housing-related matters to prevent survivor homelessness and further traumatization for them and their children.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 69% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 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: 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: 2%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 34 of 34 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $229K · 42 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $329K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.