Lutheran Services Florida

Managing entity - Florida has privatized the behavioral health safety net, creating managing entities to ensure individuals who are uninsured, underinsured or indigent have access to quality mental health and substance abuse Services. Through its samh managing entity, lsf develops, manages and oversees a network of over 60 service providers over a 23-county area. Lsf health systems, through its service network, provided mental health Services to over 27,000 individuals, substance abuse Services to nearly 17,000 individuals, and prevention Services to more than 975,000 individuals. Without the Services delivered through lsf health systems, critical behavioral health needs of thousands of vulnerable and at-risk individuals would go unmet.

Youth and family Services: when family units disintegrate during times of crisis and conflict, lsf case managers and social workers are there to not only protect children, but to help preserve families when it's in the best interest of children, and to reunify families once they have stabilized. Lsf's focus on family preservation and reunification - whenever possible and when it's in the best of interest of the child - translates into an array of Services to help families cope and recover from times of crisis. In this past year, lsf helped over 20,000 people move from crisis to stability through its youth and family Services. As part of this work, lsf residential youth shelters and group homes provide a temporary safe haven for young people ages 10-17. Counseling Services for both children and families allow individuals and families to best address the issues causing family discord and upheaval. Teen court helps youth who are first-time offenders stay out of the juvenile justice system. Child welfare case management delivers protective Services for children who are abused or neglected. Diversion Services provide wraparound essential Services to at-risk families. As a safe place organization, lsf partners with local businesses and schools to help youth in trouble find and access safe refuge. Because lsf seeks to serve people who face particular vulnerabilities, lsf often focuses on families with young children and people who are in the foster care system. In addition to providing direct Services, lsf conducts extensive community outreach to help educate youth and families on preventative strategies and crisis resolution, reaching hundreds of youth and adults through these efforts.

Children's Services: helping children break the cycle of poverty and reach their full potential through high-quality educational and family-centered programs is the primary goal of lsf's children's Services. This past year, lsf educated over 4,950 at-risk children and helped their families through lsf's early head start and head start classes all across the state of Florida. Understanding that food security is essential for family stability and for learning, lsf makes sure that every child in its head start and after school programs receive healthy, well-balanced meals every day; we served over 3,480,000 meals and snacks throughout the year. The food program not only alleviates a financial burden for parents and ensures that children are ready to learn because they're properly fed, it encourages life-long healthy eating habits.

Welcome and assistance for newcomers is essential to the vibrancy of communities across the u.s. and is key to extending lsf's mission of hope and help to all floridians, long-timers and newcomers alike. Each year thousands of refugees arrive to Florida having faced harrowing escapes, many of almost mythic scope. Lsf, through its refugee program, helps these new neighbors find a home, learn english, secure employment, enroll in school and adjust to a new life in a new land. Lsf assists many more newcomers with integration and immigration legal Services. Last year alone, lsf helped welcome and serve over 10,900 refugees and immigrants from across the globe.

Often, adults in need are the last to be served, if they have access to Services at all; this is especially true for single adults with no families. This is why lsf continues in its essential work with helping adults in need of care and assistance throughout the state of Florida. Through its varied adult programs, lsf aims to not only address current and urgent needs, but works to help adults maintain or regain autonomy to whatever degree possible and to ensure that their lives are full of dignity and hope, knowing that lsf is there to accompany them regardless of the paths their lives have taken. More than 330 adult floridians received help from lsf this past year in programs designed to assist people with disabilities, people with mental impairments, and people who are working through substance abuse issues. Elderly persons and people with mental or physical incapacities who cannot manage their own affairs are helped by lsf's adult advocacy program. The lsf adult advocacy program focuses on people who are indigent and works to create and facilitate lives lived to their fullest with adequate healthcare, along with safe and comfortable housing.