Youth Advocacy Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043583353
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6179105840
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Reported finances

Revenue
$569,324
Expenses
$587,038
Assets
$1,478,946
Liabilities
$5,052

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARLIES SPANJAARD (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • BRIDGET TRECO-BETTEZ (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DULCINEIA GONCALVES (YAF CHAIR (DIR OF YAD)): $186,801 total reported compensation
  • MARLIES SPANJAARD (PRESIDENT & CEO): $151,992 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE SCAVONGELLI (EXECUTIVE DIR. (YAD SR. COUNSEL)): $144,202 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 youth advocacy foundation (yaf) is a 501(c)(3) organization and the non-profit arm of the state juvenile defender's office, whose mission is protecting and advancing the legal and human rights of children to promote their healthy development through active partnerships with local communities. Yaf's primary focus is support the clients of edlaw project, which works to shut down the cradle-to-prison pipeline in ma by ensuring that our state's most vulnerable students receive a stable and quality education through expert holistic, individual, and systemic racially-conscious, student-directed advocacy.

What it reported doing in 2024

The youth advocacy foundation (yaf) was established in 2001 with the mission of protecting and advancing the legal and human rights of children. For the past 24 years, yaf has remained steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that every child has access to zealous representation, essential community-based services, and a quality education. The young people we represent are students with disabilities. Getting the right education, including learning to read, is how students can escape the cycle of poverty and the school-to-prison pipeline. Yaf funds the many ways we are ensuring and enhancing the education representation that the edlaw attorneys provide, including: intake, paralegal, and legal support; dedicated social work support for our education clients; a client support program that provides needed items and services for clients such as food, clothing, supplies, transportation, housing; yaf v.o.i.c.e.s. A group for youth and parents with lived experience; resources to help attack structural racism in our schools and other institutions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 68.3%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.8%; rating input score 99; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.1%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.52; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.8% of revenue deployed · 68.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 16 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $401K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $187K · 21 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.