Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010267392
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Waterville, ME, USA
Phone
2078734253
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,703,520
Expenses
$2,074,996
Assets
$8,729,584
Liabilities
$127,617

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LEO BERUBE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CANDACE MARRINER (EXECUTIVE DI): $127,927 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 build and strengthen families and their children, instilling hope for the future and a better quality of life.

What it reported doing in 2024

The family adoption program provides lifetime supports for families embarking on a journey for their forever family. The hague-accredited family adoption program at Maine children's home (mch) is a comprehensive adoption agency that offers professional services and support to all members of the adoption triad - adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoptees. Professional social work staff members guide families through the entire process and provide support long after the adoption has taken place. The program offers free adoption informational meetings every month that are open to anyone interested in learning about whether adoption is an option for their family. Maine children's home's (mch) connected families project (cfp) supported children and families through a variety of efforts, including counseling, support groups, education and outreach. Mch added targeted case management (tcm) to the cfp array in 2024. Tcm is a supportive service that helps youth and their families who are dealing with behavioral health issues, intellectual disabilities, or significant medical conditions. Through this service, a case manager works closely with families to assess their unique strengths and needs, creating a personalized care plan and guiding families in accessing valuable resources and treatment options. During 2024 tcm became the only service being provided under cfp and the program name was changed to tcm.

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 92% 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

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: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 74.7%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -21.8%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.21; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88% of revenue deployed · 74.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.