LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF COLORADO

Programs

1. Foster care services: in the past year, lfsrm's foster care programs provided 50,856 nights of care for 220 children and youth across the front range of colorado who were unable to remain in their home or with family. The program cared for 140 youth who were temporarily removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect, 78 unaccompanied refugee minors whose parents and caregivers were unable to be located after having fled their home countries due to war, unrest or other valid concerns for safety, and 2 unaccompanied children in the custody of the office of refugee resettlement while seeking immigration relief. Lfsrm certifies and trains parents to provide high quality care to children and youth who are unable to be cared for by their biological parents or kin and provides ongoing support and oversight to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of children in care. The agency provides evidence based training to ensure families are well prepared to meet the needs of children placed in their homes in a trauma informed manner. Additionally, the agency provides high quality case management and enhanced supports, including mental health services for children and families, and…

   $8,820,791 spentof which $4,427,620 as grants$9,996,817 earned by the program
   29% of program spending

2. Refugee resettlement services: in the past year, lfsrm's refugee resettlement programs served 5,973 individuals from 62 countries with resettlement services in colorado, new mexico, and montana. Lfsrm provides quality case management and a range of services to facilitate social, cultural, and economic integration for the whole family, assisting with housing, education, employment, and connection to a variety of other services to meet individual and family needs. During the fiscal year, clients served by lfsrm's resettlement programs were on average placed in permanent housing within 6.39 days of arrival and were employed within 4.33 months of arrival. Additional services this year included refugee youth education programming, youth focused social-emotional skill building and mentoring services, and early childhood education programming for refugee women. The program also offered micro-loans and individual development accounts to support small business creation and asset attainment.

   $20,604,460 spentof which $9,031,463 as grants$20,104,060 earned by the program
   67% of program spending

3. Adoption & birth parent counseling: lfsrm provides a full range of pregnancy counseling and adoption services. Clients who are experiencing unexpected pregnancies receive unbiased and accurate information about all options, allowing them to make a well-informed decision they can feel confident about. Clients receive follow-up support regardless of the option they choose and receive relinquishment counseling when needed. For clients who choose adoption, lfsrm helps to match the child with an adoptive family and assists through the completion of the legal process. Lfsrm's adoption program supports open adoptions, providing assistance to families throughout the entire adoption process, including finalization of their adoptive child. Designated adoption assistance is provided for families who are already matched with a birth mother in order to complete their adoptions. Lfsrm also provides home study approvals for international and non-public interstate adoptions in the state of colorado. In the past year, lfsrm provided options counseling for 49 parents facing unexpected pregnancies and relinquishment counseling for 18 parents referred by local county departments of human services.…

   $411,999 spentof which $15,280 as grants$346,622 earned by the program
   1% of program spending

4. Older adult services: in the past year, lfsrm's older adult program acted as the legal guardian for 73 individuals with neurological impairments related to dementia, alzheimer disease, or massive stroke who were determined by their doctor to lack capacity to provide informed consent to medical treatment and were found to have no advance directives or "surrogate" decision maker to make decisions on their behalf. The program partnered with hospital systems throughout the denver metropolitan area to identify and provide services for clients to ensure they received appropriate medical care and were able to discharge from the hospital to live in the least restrictive appropriate to their needs. The program largely works with individuals who are indigent, many of whom are veterans and have experienced homelessness. In the past year 72% of those served were low- or no-income medicaid eligible and 56.3% of individuals were unhoused prior to being hospitalized. Lfsrm provides oversight and care to individuals through end of life, including short term services for individuals diagnosed to be within 3 to 6 months of passing to allow them to receive hospice care in their final days. The…

   $347,152 spentof which $12,653 as grants$354,288 earned by the program
   1% of program spending

5. Family support and education services: lfsrm provides a range of programs to strengthen and support families, improve family relationships and educate children and families on safety and parenting topics. Lfsrm offers both court ordered and voluntary services to support families to provide both primary and secondary prevention in response to community needs. Services include a family resource center in el paso county which offers the state's only emergency respite center, providing free child care to families in crisis; a supervised family time program in weld county that ensures the safety of children while allowing them to maintain relationship with their non-custodial parents in high conflict situations; and evidence based education programs in el paso, larimer, and weld counties. In the past year, lfsrm provided family support and education services to 5,821 children and 605 unique families.

   $304,593 spent$658,136 earned by the program
   1% of program spending

6. Disaster relief: in the past year, lfsrm provided disaster case management support and recovery assistance to a small number of residents who were impacted by the alexander mountain fire which occurred in larimer county in late july. Recovery navigators provided support to individuals and families including education on available resources and rebuilding processes, emotional and spiritual care, and advocacy on behalf of impacted residents.

   $274,293 spentof which $5,987 as grants$312,796 earned by the program
   1% of program spending

The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $30,763,288.