El Centro De Servicios Sociales Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
El Centro is a Hispanic-Latino non-profit advocacy organization whose mission is to enhance the socio-economic status of the Lorain County community by providing essential social, educational, cultural and community development services. Core Programs: Senior & Adult Supportive Services, Youth Leadership, Employment, Domestic Violence & Representative Payee.
- Income
- $1.4 million
- Spending
- $1.4 million
- Spent on programs
- 91%
- Reserves
- -10.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 54%
- Employees
- 40
- Volunteers
- 15
- Highest pay
- $112,276, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 58 out of 100. Higher than 28% of charities in its peer group (human services, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 24% of what it owns.
Living within its means
12 of 15Income exceeded spending by 1% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 5% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1591% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 94 out of 100. Higher than 58% of charities in its peer group (human services, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2512 of 12 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
9 of 15Its accounts were reviewed or compiled by an independent accountant, but not audited.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (5)
- $381,211 spent. Money Management Program (Representative Payee Services). The program provides money management, representative payee services, to individuals 18 years of age and over from Lorain County who are struggling with severe physical and mental disorders that render them unable to manage their own personal finance. Services include individual support to secure the basic needs for the betterment of the client. The program serves approximately 300 indviduals annually. The average annual income of client in this program is less than $8,500. The primary function of the Money Management Program is to ensure that clients meet their basic living needs, primarily housing, and to avoid re-hospitalization. Each client represents a unique challenge with regards to limited resources, special cognitive limitations, dependency issues, treatment compliance and stigmas faced in the community. While over 50% of all clients referred to the program are homeless, the program, through active advocacy for the clients and ensuring basic needs are met, has demonstrated its ability to maintain stable housing in the community for over 98% of its clients.
- $191,118 spent. 231GO Collaborative : The program is offered to Lorain youth grades 5-8 who reside in Census Tract 231. The collaborative focuses on and assists youth to create the necessary developmental assets, Social Self Efficacy, Academic Self Efficacy and Valued by Adults. El Centro is the backbone agency of the collaborative, with partner agencies and collaborative partners focused on mentoring, self esteem development and creating students who are motivated and engaged in learning.
- $28,118 spent. El Dorado Senior Center. The program is designed to enhance the quality of life of Latino senior citizens through culturally sensitive supportive services, which include: health screenings, health education, interpretation, translation the services necessary to improve their mental and physical health. El Dorado Senior Program serves Latino seniors whom are challenged by socioeconomic, language, and cultural barriers. Of the clients served in the program, 80% live below the poverty level and 82% do not speak English. Over one third of the clients are disabled and frail. Many of the clients served by the program have little or no family members available to assist them with their physicaland emotional needs and over half live alone. Often times, El Dorado caseworkers are the only point of contact the elderly have for assistance. El Centro caseworkers are trained to interpret in the context of health service delivery and provide bi-cultural supportive services, which are essential part of a more accurate diagnosis and more sensitive treatment to ensure quality of care for over 110 seniors.
- $568,336 spent. Community Health and Supportive Services Program: The Community Health and Supportive Services program formally know as Adult Support Services is a unique program that serves as the first stop for many monolingual Latino families in need of social services and those having difficulty navigating the social services system. The program is also considered the signature program of El Centro. This program has established excellent partnerships with many organizations, health institutions, social services agencies and programs, school systems, law offices, and others. This program is currently serving a dual role while providing a crucial service to the community, as it also serves to cultivate and develop bilingual social workers in our county and address a need in our county, state and nation. The goal of this program is to continue providing social assessments to family in need, identifying services needed, but most important, connecting families to those services by providing referrals as well as interpretation and support. Ancillary Services provided by the program include a mobile food pantry in collaboration with Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Ohio.
- $61,882 spent. Community Development: The Community Development Program is Collaboration between the members of the Lorain Latino Finance and Housing Committee to provide bilingual financial literacy education to residents in Lorain County and once agency has received a HUD certification add home buying classes. The Lorain Latino Financial and Housing Committee consists of financial institutions that are committed to helping the community to learn about financial management, home buying process and financial stability.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1975.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
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