Northwest Youth Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
910970561
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone
3607344720
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's, Youth Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,629,147
Expenses
$6,808,193
Assets
$5,215,218
Liabilities
$1,607,309

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CLARE MCFRAZIER (PRESIDENT)
  • AARON VAHID (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • COLTON REDTFELDT (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHELLE HARMEIER (PRESIDENT)
  • LANCE JONES (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JASON MCGILL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JASON MCGILL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $151,804 total reported compensation
  • STEPHANIE WAGNER (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $101,513 total reported compensation
  • DIANNE ERSSER (SR DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS): $80,642 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Northwest youth services collaborates with at-risk, runaway, and homeless youth to foster self-reliance. The organization's goal is to keep youth safe, heal family relationships, and reconnect youth to the community. The organization provides emergency shelter and other supportive services to youth and families to achieve these goals.

What it reported doing in 2024

The vocational program supports participants in exploring and identifying strengths and interest, building self-confidence, and developing the skills and relationships necessary to achieve and maintain sustainable employment and become self-sufficient. Currently, the program consists of the following aspects: supporting employment readiness, individual case management, we grow, and summer jobs/youth jobs. Teen court is a collaborative program between the organization and the whatcom county superior courts and is designed to deal with second-time youth offenders. Teen court is based upon a philosophy of restorative justice in which (1) the offender is held accountable, (2) the victim is made whole, and (3) the offender is restored to the community. The ground floor program is a day center providing basic need services to youth ages 13 to 24. This low-barrier space acts as an entry point for the rest of northwest youth services' programs and partner agencies, and provides an indoor community area, laundry units, food and kitchen space, private bathrooms and showers, quiet rooms, and a 'free store' containing clothing and other survival supplies.the queer youth project supports vulnerable lgbtq youth by providing sensitivity trainings to community service providers; referring youth only to lgtbq-friendly or "safe" providers; building relationships with lgtbq youth living on the street; working together with families through counseling to return lgbtq youth to safe homes; and providing a safe space for queer youth to just be themselves. These services foster healthy family and community relationships, as well as happy and safe futures for youth.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 83% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, and 21% for grants.
  • 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.8%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $39.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.1%; rating input score 99; 37th 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: 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: 10.8%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.77; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.8% of revenue deployed · 77% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $152K · 12 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $333K 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: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.
  • 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.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.