New Horizons - Serving Individuals with Special Needs

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951862084
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
North Hills, CA, USA
Phone
8188949301
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$22,338,584
Expenses
$20,635,103
Assets
$32,564,489
Liabilities
$2,381,977

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN C BRAUER (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN C BRAUER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $401,785 total reported compensation
  • DIANE THORSELL (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $262,085 total reported compensation
  • ANTHONY PENNAY (SENIOR VP OF STRATEGIC GROWTH): $217,743 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

New horizons is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals with special needs (age 16 and older) to reach their full potential and fulfill their dreams. Founded in 1954 by eight parents whose children had special needs, (see schedule o)the agency has evolved to provide services and support each year to more than 1,100 individuals throughout the greater san fernando and santa clarita valleys of los angeles. New horizons offers job training and placement, education, counseling, residential services, social programs and person-centered planning with a focus on community integration, helping each individual gain the confidence, skills, dignity and independence at their highest level.

What it reported doing in 2024

New horizons operates the following services:1. New horizons operates 13 residential homes located throughout the san fernando valley area of los angeles. Homes vary in terms of the structure, design and level of care, but each is dedicated to assisting our members live full and fulfilling lives.2. New horizons (nh) also provides community living support services, focusing on assisting individuals to live their best lives as active participants in their communities. Nh also offers a specialty service to individuals who are house-bound to enrich their life experiences.3. New horizons provides a full array of employment training and placement services, from volunteering, to paid internships, to supported employment (group and individual) to direct (see schedule o)placement services. Annually, new horizons serves over 400 members in one or more of these services.4. Nh offers a robust community learning center with in-person and virtual learning options. This includes community-based activities and specialty curriculum in technology, media arts, and other areas of interest to the members.5. In addition, nh has a number of specialty programs, designed to support growth, training and independence. These programs include our go4grocery program, a college to career & more endeavor, and our youth navigation program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 91% 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.
  • 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. Some related-organization disclosures are missing and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $50.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 28th 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: 7.6%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.58; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.7% of revenue deployed · 90.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $18.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $402K · 26 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $225K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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 — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.