Oblong Children's Christian Home
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 370921806
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Oblong, IL, USA
- Phone
- 6185923633
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Group Homes
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,186,460
- Expenses
- $1,137,107
- Assets
- $4,327,039
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- TONY KITTLE (PRESIDENT)
- BEA JAY LAUGHTON (VICE PRESIDENT)
- DEBORAH DANNER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- DEBORAH DANNER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $77,946 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 mission of the oblong children's christian home is to glorify god by providing family-style homes for at-risk and struggling youth. The ministry disciples youth and their families by building healthy relationships, demonstrating god's unconditional love, teaching god's truth, and developing each child's unique abilities. The ministry seeks to reunite the family or prepare the young person for independent living.
What it reported doing in 2024
The oblong children's christian home provides out-of-home placement to children, typically ages 5 to 18, who are in need of services due to parental illness, incarceration, or the inability to set appropriate structure in the home. The ministry provides for all of the children's needs, assuming all responsibility for their care 24 hrs a day, seven days a week, until the goals that were established for them upon entry into the program are met. Children are placed into family-style homes where a married couple serve as house parents. The ministry employs five sets of full-time house parents and one set that works part-time. Children may attend a local public school, a local private christian school (grades k - 8), or the children's home private christian high school (new life academy). Children participate in community activities (soccer, 4-h, gymnastics, etc.) and when of age, hold part-time jobs in the area. The goal of the ministry is to reunite children with their families after significant changes are made in both their home life and behavior/decision-making. Parents/guardians are asked to take part in the reform by attending monthly family development sessions, talking with the counselor and house parents regularly, participating in weekly phone calls and engaging in home visits. The home employs a full-time counselor to meet with children weekly, and a portion of our therapy comes through horsemanship. The ministry cares for horses and has constructed an indoor riding arena for inclement weather.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 83
- Sustainability: 62
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.81; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 79% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $885K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.