Lutheran Services Florida

Submits Proposal for Child Welfare

in Miami-Dade, Monroe

2 February 2009

By Thomas L. Weitzel
LSF Communications

MIAMI--Lutheran Services Florida (LSF), a statewide human services agency with offices in Miami and Perrine, today has submitted a proposal to the Florida Department of Children and Families to become the Community-Based Care (CBC) Lead Agency for child welfare services in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. Our Kids of Miami-Dade/Monroe, Inc. is the current Lead Agency for both counties.

"LSF brings more than 25 years of commitment and experience to children and families in South Florida," said CEO and President Samuel Sipes. "We have a good collaborative history working with community partners, and we know what it is like to be a provider of child welfare services."

LSF became a Case Management Organization (CMO) for child welfare in Lee and Charlotte Counties in 2004 and serves approximately 1,400 children annually. In addition, LSF operates five youth shelters across the state to assist families in crisis with ungovernable, truant or troubled teens and runaways, ages 10-17, with programs that are designed to provide intervention, counseling and reuniting with families.  Lippman Youth Shelter in Oakland Park is operated by LSF.

LSF has been working collaboratively with partners in southeast Florida since its founding in 1982, beginning initially with employment programs in Miami for refugees. Since that time, LSF has developed valuable relationships with hundreds of businesses in the Miami area that provide employment opportunities for clients who are WAGES participants, refugees, and/or homeless individuals. LSF also maintains a Job Bank containing a wide selection of jobs catering to both skilled and unskilled workers. LSF Employment Services has two offices in Miami: at 9750 Coral Way and at 4343 W. Flagler St.

Complementing the employment program, LSF's housing program works with the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust to provide safe, clean, temporary and permanent housing for children and families through government programs such as ACCESS, Partners for Homes, New Beginnings, New Day and CHANCE (Children Having A New Choice Everyday). In the mid-1990s, LSF partnered with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami and the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. to build Jubilee Courtyards in Florida City as low-income housing. Collaborative partners with LSF for housing in Miami-Dade include HUD, United Way, Miami-Dade County Department of Human Services (CBO), and Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. LSF Housing Program Office is located at 16201 SW 95th Avenue, Suite 300, Perrine, FL 33157.

More recently in 2006, LSF initiated the Second Chance Program to provide housing for aging out foster youth (ages 18-23) to assist with their transition to independent living. LSF's Second Chance program is a true partnership of committed agencies on behalf of at-risk youth that includes the Miami Dade Office of Community & Economic Development, which provides funding for housing subsidies; Kids Hope United, the ELCA Foundation and the Dade Community Foundation, all of which provide funding for case management services; and the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, which provides the service point data base for tracking outcomes of the program. Educate Tomorrow provides mentors and mentorship training for volunteers interested in working with the youth. Local congregations provide contributions, volunteers, in-kind support and representation at the LSF Miami-Dade Advisory Committee.

Through the years, LSF has maintained significant relationships with Lutheran congregations in Miami-Dade and Monroe Countries to provide volunteers, donations and support for LSF's expanding programs for youth, children and families, the homeless and refugees. Among the major collaborative efforts has been LSF's Disaster Response work for several hurricanes and storms that have impacted the Dade and Monroe communities in Miami, Homestead, and the Keys -- particularly from Hurricane Andrew (1992), Hurricane Wilma (2005), and Tropical Storm Fay (2008). In each case, LSF worked with numerous partners to coordinate response and recovery efforts -- including Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), Lutheran Counseling Service (LCS), Florida Interfaith Networking in Disaster (FIND), Florida Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (FLVOAD) -- and organized numerous volunteers from Lutherans congregations in Dade and Monroe Counties to assist with clean up and recovery.
In all, LSF offers more than 60 social service programs statewide with a staff of over 500 employees. They have served more than 800,000 people since its founding in 1982.

For more information about Lutherans Services Florida, see www.lsfnet.org.

For inquiries, contact Thomas L. Weitzel, LSF Communications at tweitzel@lsfnet.org or by calling 813-875-1408, ext. 529.

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