LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF INDIANA INC
Help you need. Hope you can trust.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
For ever a century (since 1901), Lutheran Social Services of Indiana (LSSI) has been reaching out to Indiana communities, meeting needs with Christ's love. Today, that commitment to serve our neighbors remains steadfast. WE continue to express the love of Jesus Christ for all people through services that empower individuals and families to move toward social, emotional and spiritual wholeness.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Community Partners - In partnership with SCAN
Our case managers provide in-home services that offer assistance to families by helping them set and attain goals. Whether it’s helping with a short-term housing crisis, job search, or family-management and parenting skills, our staff is always here to help clients.
Children's Village Early Learning Center
Children's Village is a state-of-the-art early-learning center that strives to meet children's developmental needs while promoting school readiness using the High/Scope Curriculum.
In addition, Children's Village offers intergenerational programming that joins students with residents of Lutheran Life Villages. Residents and students participate together in arts and crafts, exercise, and other activities that benefit both groups. Students sometimes deliver mail to residents, and they often enjoy lunch together. Older adults have so much wisdom to offer, and young children are eager to learn. At Children's Village, they become "co-explorers," learning and growing together.
Education Creates Hope and Opportunity (ECHO)
ECHO (Education Creates Hope and Opportunity) provides one-on-one, home- and school-based case-management services to pregnant and parenting teens. Our goal is to help these teens complete their high school education, either through a high school diploma or GED certificate. Teen parents who participate in ECHO are more likely to develop life skills that break the cycle of dependence. Case managers assist clients in setting their own goals and help them work toward reducing barriers such as child care, transportation, and other life circumstances that may prevent them from being successful in school—and in life. Currently, we offer services in Allen county.
Financial Literacy / Cup of Kindness
LSSI offers free one-on-one or group lessons to provide information and teach skills that prepare people to make wise financial decisions.
Clients have the opportunity to attend lessons that cover topics ranging from budgeting and expense tracking to managing credit cards and becoming an informed consumer. Each lesson can stand alone or be taken as a series.
The Financial Literacy Program offers people an opportunity to understand and manage their finances, enabling them to take steps to create a secure financial future for themselves and their families.
Currently in partnership with community volunteers, we are able to offer a mentoring program to individuals and families who want to spend more time understanding how to face their financial choices head on.
LSSI Works
LSSI (Lasting Stability and Success for Individuals) Works is a workforce initiative committed to providing personal and professional skills to help individuals find a lasting career.
Balance Works
Northeast Indiana's faith-based mental-health provider offering proven integrated mind-body-spirit therapy for children and adults. We empower individuals to overcome barriers, conquer traumatic experiences, and live life freely. We offer targeted help within a broad network of support.
Children and Family Services
In partnership with the Department of Child Services, Lutheran Social Services of Indiana offers individualized services to families in crisis to promote their health and well-being. Among the services provided are parent training, role modeling, case management, and referrals to other resources. Additional services offered include both home-based and office-based counseling. LSSI incorporates an evidenced-based approach to treatment to reduce the long-term effects of trauma from abuse or neglect and to provide families with a healthy new beginning.
Our program promotes the safety and well-being of children by strengthening, protecting, and preserving families in our community using evidenced based practice and curriculum. Staff are trained in Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Method (FIE).
Gear-Up for Safety
Through the Gear-Up for Safety Program, families are provided with necessary safety items—Pack ’N Plays, car seats, electrical outlet covers, baby locks, baby gates, carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, and more—to ensure that their homes are safe places for children. In addition, Gear-Up for Safety Program staff members help with the installation of these safety items and provide education and training on safety topics identified by participating families.
Recovery Care
Recovery Care services are designed to meet the needs of an individual with Substance Use Disorder who has been through initial treatment. Recovery Care participants need to be ready to integrate recovery into every-day life. If you or someone you know suffers from Substance Use Disorder, the Recovery Care team can offer:
Advocacy & Resource Referral
Behavioral Health Services
Employment Services
Financial Stability Services
After-Care & Follow Up
The Recovery Care program is a part of Balance Works, a mental health initiative by Lutheran Social Services of Indiana.
Recovery Care also offers services for families of loved ones suffering from substance use/misuse, no matter the status of the loved one's recovery. Services include groups, resourcing, screening and assessments and community support to develop family stability and wellness.
Where we work
Accreditations
Council on Accreditation (COA) [for Children and Family Services] - Accreditation 2007
Council on Accreditation (COA) [for Children and Family Services] - Accreditation 2011
Council on Accreditation (COA) [for Children and Family Services] - Accreditation 2015
Council on Accreditation (COA) [for Children and Family Services] - Accreditation 2019
External reviews
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Lutheran Social Services of Indiana has an impact statement that focuses the mission of the organization:
To promote the overall health of our community, LSSI focuses on equipping willing families facing the most challenging obstacles with the skills necessary to make positive life choices as evidenced by advancement toward economic and family stability.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Lutheran Social Services of Indiana provides holistic support of the entire family structure with a variety of programs all focused on moving individuals and families toward economic and family stability. Each program has a focus to directly build skills toward stability. To accomplish this, the programs will work in tandem with each other to address each area of a individual/family situation that could bring further stability.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
LSSI employs the use of evidence-based practices in each program to ensure effectiveness toward individual client and programmatic goals. The organization uses a Balanced Score Card system to track program and agency progress and is accredited every 4 years by the Council on Accreditation.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the midst of a global pandemic. LSSI is proud to say that our services have not stopped. We have been able to develop new methods for service delivery, as we recognize that the needs of the families in our community don't halt but increase during difficult times. LSSI has seen a 276% increase in request for basic needs. We have continued to meet many of our outcomes and maintain all COA standards under which we are accredited.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Struggle to contact clients after contact information has changed
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF INDIANA INC
Board of directorsas of 06/01/2022
Mrs Nancy Berning
Doc Dancer Inc.
Nancy Berning
Doc Dancer, Inc.
Doug Schwartz
Col (Retired) USAF
Laura Goff
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation
Kevin Morse
Greater Fort Wayne, Inc.
Rich Bienz
University of Saint Francis
Rev. Dr. John Stube
Retired Pastor LCMS
Meredith Tourney
Lutheran South Unity School
Michael Mabee
LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Rev. Dr. Daniel May
Retired Pastor LCMS
Rebecca Ahlersmeyer
Concordia Theological Seminary. FW
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/15/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.