Youth Guidance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362167032
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, US
Phone
+1 (312) 253-4900
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$44,260,936
Expenses
$54,716,820
Assets
$45,606,209
Liabilities
$5,450,163

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

Leadership & pay

55 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michelle A Morrison (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Shawn D Brown (Executive Director)
  • Casswell Goodman (Executive Director)
  • Garrett Webster (Executive Director)
  • Andrew Johnson (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Michelle A Morrison (Chief Executive Officer): $402,805 total reported compensation
  • Rebecca Clarkin (Former Chief Operating Officer): $227,284 total reported compensation
  • Edwindra Johnson (Chief People Officer): $204,949 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Youth Guidance creates and implements school-based programs that enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education and, ultimately, to succeed in school and in life.

What it reported doing in 2024

Counseling and prevention is core to all Youth Guidance programs. Our school-based mental health programs work with students who are at higher risk of school withdrawal and antisocial behaviors, to gain the skills and resources necessary to improve school engagement and thrive in and beyond school.Our flagship group counseling programs are Becoming a Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW). BAM and WOW are in-school strength-based, trauma-informed group counseling and clinical mentoring programs that seek to change the life trajectories of boys and young men of color and girls and young women of color in grades 6-12, who have been exposed to cycles of intergenerational poverty, violence, and trauma.We also implement STRIVE, which is specific to youth ages 14-21 who are in Illinois' foster care system, Community Connections, a case management and resource provision program designed to connect Youth Guidance students and families to resources to meet immediate needs, and in-school Counseling programs, which includes both 1:1 and group counseling models. Our newest offering within the Counseling & Prevention program is the EVOLVE program. Drawing on core content and processes from our evidence-based Becoming a Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW) programs, EVOLVE's innovative capacity-building approach is designed to dramatically increase the number of schools and students who have access to group-based social and emotional support. The EVOLVE program provides professional development for school staff on the principles of adolescent development, trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches, and practices for supporting students' healthy learning and development.The primary mechanism of EVOLVE is the group circles, with a structured curriculum providing opportunities for learning, practicing, and internalizing social and emotional skills, to improve students' self-awareness, healthy relationships, school engagement, and goal attainment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 66% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 81.6%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th 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: -23.6%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.83; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 8 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 81.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 40 of 40 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $44.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $403K · 55 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.