Dependency Legal Services
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
THE SPECIFIC PURPOSE OF THIS ORGANIZATION IS TO PROVIDE LEGAL REPRESENTATION IN JUVENILE DEPENDENCY COURT PROCEEDINGS AND TO CARRY ON SUCH OTHER ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GOAL AS ALLOWED BY LAW.
- Income
- $6.8 million
- Spending
- $5.9 million
- Spent on programs
- 92%
- Reserves
- 12.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 97%
- Employees
- 46
- Volunteers
- 3
- Highest pay
- $287,510, ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 90% of charities in its peer group (crime and legal services, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 12.8 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 8% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 13% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 1% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1592% of spending went to programs.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 92 out of 100. Higher than 46% of charities in its peer group (crime and legal services, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 254 of 5 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no 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
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 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 (1)
- $5.4 million spent. Dependency Legal Services is a non-profit, interdisciplinary law firm dedicated to serving children and parents in child abuse and neglect cases. Our attorneys are court appointed to serve clients in Marin, Placer, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, and Yolo County dependency proceedings. Dependency Legal Services is a dynamic law firm, with opportunities for growth, which values quality representation as well as quality of personal life. (info@dependencyls.com). Dependency Legal Services served approximately 2356 total clients at any given time in all our counties: This was comprised of approximately 911 children and 1445 parents. For a further breakdown by County:Marin: 95 Children and 86 ParentsPlacer: 1 Child and 206 Parents Sonoma: 8 Children and 276 ParentsSolano: 312 Children and 258 ParentsStanislaus: 139 Children and 312 ParentsYolo: 356 Children and 307 ParentsWith regard to Program Accomplishments, Dependency Legal Services continues to raise the quality of services to our clients in various ways. Firstly, DLS remains active in the legislature. Dependency Legal Services co-sponsored a very important bill that was signed into law by Governor Newsome. A.B. 2664 requires that, when the court orders the custody of a child to be retained by the parent or guardian at disposition, even if the child was initially detained, and then subsequently removes the child at disposition on a petition brought pursuant to a subsequent petition, as specified, the child is deemed to have entered foster care on the earlier of the date of the jurisdictional hearing held pursuant to the subsequent petition or the date that is 60 days after the date the child was initially removed from the physical custody of their parent or guardian on a subsequent petition. The bill requires that the disposition on a subsequent petition be considered the initial disposition for specified circumstances. The bill requires, for purposes of calculating the date of a continued permanency review hearing or a subsequent permanency review hearing, as specified, the child is deemed to have been originally removed from the physical custody of their parent or guardian on the date they were taken into custody by the social worker based on a subsequent petition, as specified. A.B. 2664 essentially vitiates In re Michael G. which had the impact of starting the reunification clock from removal at a detention hearing, on a prima facie standard even though the child was not removed at the disposition hearing. As with all of our legislative efforts, we strive to advocate for policy changes that support families, increase reunification and promote stability for foster youth throughout California. Dependency Legal Services attorneys serve on the Family Law Advisory Committee, the Family Justice Initiative workgroup and the Family Law/Juvenile Law Committee as well. DLS attorneys also continue to be contributing authors to Seiser & Kumli on Juvenile Courts Practice and Procedure. This year senior staff rolled out several training courses for both DLS staff and dependency counsel and social workers across the state. This included a Judicial Council training on Legislation, and Basic Dependency, a training with a lived experience expert on the parents experience in the dependency system, a training on visitation and two trainings at the National Association of Childs Counsel on rethinking termination of parental rights and unlikely allies in legislation. Additionally, ten staff members were sent to this training in Salt Lake City, Utah. Four of our management staff have obtained Child Welfare Law Specialist status. DLS continues to explore pre-filing work in our counties. We have an in house working group that is meeting regularly to segway into this work and we will be pursuing grant opportunities.DLS also continues to improve our Human Resources department. We have entered into a contract with People Rock Human Resources to provide guidance and oversight on numerous H.R. issues. This has resulted in a much more robust onboarding process and greater documentation reflecting changes in employment. This year we focused on the best practices regarding employee evaluations. It is also hoped that this will reduce Labor attorney costs. DLS continues to integrate social workers into our multi-disciplinary practice. We are seeing the value social workers bring in parent and child representation. DLS continues to put an emphasis on recruitment and retention and was happy to raise the starting salary for attorneys.DLS continues to draw down federal funding for our work. We also continued to be part of The Judicial Councils summer internship program for first- and second-year law students. Stipends were for $3,600 times 5 interns for 240 hours a week. DLS supplemented this funding by several dollars per hour to make it more worthwhile for the interns. The program was successful with the hope of recruiting these students once they pass the bar exam.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 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 September 7, 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 September 30, 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 September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since December 2013.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 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 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.