Ready for Life Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264032979
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Largo, FL, USA
Phone
7279543989
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Foster Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,274,627
Expenses
$1,599,821
Assets
$601,081
Liabilities
$474,916

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHY MIZE (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHY MIZE (CEO): $113,799 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Changing lives beyond foster care - ready for life works with youth in foster care as they prepare to transition out of the system to being on their own. The support and services extend until the young adults turn 28 years of age.

What it reported doing in 2024

Youth support: to engage foster care youth, private citizens and public resources to assist pinellas county foster care youth in successful transitions to adulthood. The organization's goal is to be a link between the youth and the many resources available to assist them as well as give the youth the voice to help create and run the organization's many programs. The organization continues to advance their expanded services to encompass the entirety of circuit 6, significantly broadening their reach to vulnerable former foster youth in pasco county. Through strategic partnerships with the lead agency for foster care, cdc, other nonprofits serving the area, and key funders, conducted comprehensive needs mapping for former foster youth in pasco county to ensure targeted, evidence-based service delivery. Their proactive outreach to group homes establishes critical connections with youth approaching age 18, ensuring seamless transition into the ready for life program before they exit the foster care system. This preventive approach addresses the urgent need for continuity of support during this vulnerable transition period. Post-18 crisis intervention and life skills support remain central to the organization's mission, addressing fundamental barriers including transportation, food insecurity, housing instability, educational gaps, and employment challenges. This expanded geographic scope allows the organization to serve a larger population of at-risk youth while maintaining their commitment to comprehensive wraparound services that promote long-term stability and self-sufficiency.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% 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.
  • 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 filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -25.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.79; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.