Archives: Newsroom

WASHINGTON — Recognized for their continuing focus on strengthening families, Lutheran Services in America and Genacross Lutheran Services have been awarded a grant from Aetna Better Health of Ohio to develop a framework to strengthen families, prevent unnecessary child welfare custody and improve health equity in 10 targeted communities throughout Ohio. The framework, to be completed in Q1 2020, will be the first major step in creating what will be the new and scalable Partners in Treatment Preservation Program (PTPP). PTPP will be designed to achieve key objectives of the Ohio state Medicaid Support for Children’s Services Transformation, including implementing evidence-based practices to prevent child welfare custody, opening access to Behavioral Health Care Coordination and improving equitable health outcomes.

“PTPP will build on a successful program Genacross currently offers, the Partners in Treatment Program, which provides family preservation and reunification programming along with individual family therapy, multi-family group therapy, and Community and Psychiatric Supports and Treatment for youth and their families,” said Rick Marshall, president and CEO of Genacross Lutheran Services.

The holistic approach expands family preservation and reunification to include an evidence-based, family-centered approach to develop skills to prevent crises, manage behaviors, and promote self-care. To improve equitable health outcomes, the program addresses social determinants of health by connecting the family to social supports in their community to access healthy nutrition, employment, housing, financial planning, and transportation.

“When you consider that nearly three million Ohioans receive health care coverage through the Ohio Department of Medicaid – and combine this with how over 840,000 people served by Medicaid received behavioral health services last year alone – you see the necessity of developing and expanding initiatives to help lower-income families,” said Maureen Pero, an executive with Aetna Medicaid. “Given the results we’re seeing from Genacross’s work with at-risk children, youth and families here in Ohio, we felt they were a natural fit to team with in our efforts to strengthen more families in Ohio.”

Increasingly, Lutheran Services in America is attracting notice for its groundbreaking programs and collaborations that promote the inherent value of helping all people grow, thrive, and live independent, productive lives — regardless of where they were born, their income, gender, faith, skin color or ZIP code. The Washington, DC-based organization works alongside trusted organizations such as Genacross Lutheran Services to improve the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.

“The PTPP initiative with Aetna is a tremendous opportunity to design a family preservation model to meet the needs of families in Ohio – one that can scale not only throughout Ohio, but elsewhere,” noted Charlotte Haberaecker, president and CEO of Lutheran Services in America. “The fact that our national network of 300 health and human services organizations is deeply embedded in the fabric of over 1,400 communities throughout the U.S. gives us an up-close understanding of the efforts that actually work and why.”

About Lutheran Services in America
Lutheran Services in America is the national network of Lutheran social ministry organizations — connecting over 300 health and human services nonprofit service providers located throughout the country. Recognized by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes as one of the nation’s largest nonprofits, the Lutheran Services in America network operates with more than $22 billion in annual revenue and over 250,000 member employees. Together, the network lifts up the nation’s most vulnerable people from children to seniors — making a difference in the lives of one in 50 Americans every year. To learn more, please visit www.lutheranservices.org.

About Genacross Lutheran Services
Genacross Lutheran Services has been serving and inspiring people in need since 1860. Today, nearly 3,800 people of all ages throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan benefit from Genacross programs and services that foster compassionate care and wellness in many areas of life. Genacross Lutheran Services is a nonprofit, Christian organization that employs more than 700 people and is supported by nearly 170 Lutheran congregations across the region. For more information, please visit GenacrossLutheranServices.org.

About Aetna Medicaid
Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC (Aetna Medicaid), a CVS Health business, has over 30 years of experience managing the care of the most medically vulnerable, using innovative approaches and a local presence in each market to achieve both successful health care results and effective cost outcomes. Aetna Medicaid has particular expertise serving high-need Medicaid members, including those who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. Currently, Aetna Medicaid owns and/or administers Medicaid managed health care plans under the names of Aetna Better Health and other affiliate names. Together, these plans serve approximately 2 million people in 16 states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Texas. For more information, see www.aetnabetterhealth.com.

###

Contact:

Christopher Findlay
Lutheran Services in America
202-499-5833
cfindlay@lutheranservices.org

Kari Bucher
Genacross Lutheran Services
419-861-4970
KBucher@Genacross.org

The Aging and Disability Business Institute and National Council on Aging announced the selection of Lutheran Services in America and 10 other community-based organizations (CBOs) and networks to participate in the 2020 Medicare Advantage Learning Collaborative. Participants selected:

• Alleghenies United Cerebral Palsy, PA
• Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens, VA
• Atlanta Regional Commission AAA, GA
• ElderSource, FL
• Hospice of the Bluegrass, Inc. dba Bluegrass Care Navigators, KY
• Lutheran Services in America, DC
• MAG Aging & Family Services, UT
• Meals on Wheels California, CA
• NC Center for Health and Wellness at UNC Asheville, NC
• Resource Center for Independent Living, Inc., NY
• Washington Association of Area Agencies on Aging, WA

Over the next six months, these participants will be engaged in a curriculum focused on building the knowledge and skills needed to successfully pursue contracts with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for home and community-based services. Supported by targeted technical assistance, a peer learning network and a platform to share learnings, participants will come away from the learning collaborative with increased knowledge of MA plans, a broader understanding of MA plans’ quality and performance drivers, knowledge of promising practices for MA plan contracting and a customized value proposition.

Statement from Charlotte Haberaecker,
President and CEO of Lutheran Services in America

in response to today’s Senate passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief,
and Economic Security Act (H.R. 748)

March 25, 2020

“While we are eager to fully review the entire legislation just passed, the U.S. Senate did the right thing in today’s vote on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act when they ensured that many nonprofits receiving Medicaid funding will be eligible for SBA loans with loan forgiveness to support their work helping so many people in need during this pandemic. This is a crucial part of this third Congressional relief package, given how many nonprofits like our 300 health and human services organizations are on the frontlines fighting COVID-19. These dedicated Lutheran social ministry organizations are working around the clock caring for one in 50 Americans in need, in over 1,400 communities in 46 states across the country – a charge made all the more difficult given the ongoing pandemic dramatically affecting the people our organizations care for.

“Additional funding resources will be absolutely critical in the months to come. This is particularly vital when considering many of our Lutheran social ministry organizations are helping people affected by the pandemic while in crisis mode; they are lacking personal protective equipment, incurring additional expenses, and struggling with limited cash reserves and already-tight margins.

“We are eager to learn the outcome of the upcoming, related coronavirus relief package vote in the House, and ask that in future legislation lawmakers ensure that nonprofits with over 500 employees who currently are not eligible for SBA zero-interest loans and other funds also are provided with speedy alternative funding sources. We are seeing firsthand how people’s lives throughout America are depending on needed measures like these during this difficult time.”

For further information or additional comment from Charlotte Haberaecker, contact Jen Beltz at (202) 499-5846.

About Lutheran Services in America
Lutheran Services in America is the national network of Lutheran social ministry organizations — connecting over 300 health and human services nonprofit service providers located throughout the country. Recognized by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes as one of the nation’s largest nonprofits, the Lutheran Services in America network operates with more than $22 billion in annual revenue and over 250,000 member employees. Together, the network lifts up the nation’s most vulnerable people from children to seniors — making a difference in the lives of one in 50 Americans every year. To learn more, please visit www.lutheranservices.org.

From Charlotte Haberaecker, President and CEO of Lutheran Services in America

Our conviction that diversity is our strength, unity our biggest hope, and equity for all people throughout America must be demanded and achieved has never been more true — nor more deeply felt — than over this past week. George Floyd’s senseless death, like the countless people before him struck down by systemic racism, must be more than yet another wake-up call.

Damyn Kelly, President and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of New York, is correct when he emphasizes the obligation we all have to “not only act in ways that enhance quality of life for those we serve, but also to speak out against injustice when we see or experience it… We must continue to explore our personal biases against those who are different.”

As a faith-based community, we honor, respect and heed the voices in America crying out in pain, frustration and anger. In lifting high and responding to those voices, we not only have the collective opportunity to fix as a nation what has been so wrong for so long, but the imperative to do so. Doing so will require not only listening carefully and personal commitments to battle inequity and racism at every turn, but creating related policy improvements that so directly impact communities nationwide.

As people of faith, we pray and speak for hope, healing, justice and peace. As Lutheran social ministry, God’s grace and care for our neighbor — central tenets of our heritage — inform our commitment to dismantling inequity. Acting to build a stronger future — one that is fair, just and will deliver meaningful change for us all — will make our communities and nation immeasurably stronger.

About Lutheran Services in America
Lutheran Services in America is the national network of Lutheran social ministry organizations — connecting over 300 nonprofit health and human service providers located throughout the country. Recognized by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes as one of the nation’s largest nonprofits, the Lutheran Services in America network operates with more than $22 billion in annual revenue and over 250,000 member employees. Together, the network lifts up the nation’s most vulnerable people from children to seniors — making a difference in the lives of one in 50 Americans every year. To learn more, please visit www.lutheranservices.org.

June 9 Senate Finance Committee hearing titled “Unemployment Insurance During COVID-19: The CARES Act and the Role of Unemployment Insurance During the Pandemic”

From Charlotte Haberaecker, President and CEO of Lutheran Services in America

On behalf of the one in 50 Americans who rely on the 300 Lutheran health and human services providers throughout the United States that comprise Lutheran Services in America, thank you for considering our statement at this important time. With our active presence in over 1,400 communities in 45 states as seen on this map, our work is critically important in improving the lives of America’s most vulnerable people, ranging from seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities to children, youth and families, and the homeless.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affects all of the people we serve and services we provide. Our 300 health and human service organizations are on the front lines caring for people while taking extraordinary steps to protect their staff and people served. Yet they increasingly struggle with equipment shortages, especially personal protective equipment; severe workforce shortages necessitating hazard pay; declining revenue; and the need to reduce or eliminate needed services. These severe challenges are occurring while our organizations simultaneously face limited cash reserves, decreasing revenue and already-tight margins.

Our work is deeply embedded in communities across the country where we have provided services for over 150 years. Yet our work—which comprises a significant part of the health and human services delivery system—cannot continue without specific measures taken soon to support nonprofit health and human service organizations. Without needed resources to support our work during this time of crisis, we will be unable to meet the increasing needs of individuals and communities at their most vulnerable time. One specific resource that is direly needed is an increase in the federal unemployment insurance reimbursement for self-funded nonprofits (also known as “reimbursing employers”) to 100% of costs.

Since 1972 when nonprofit organizations were required to provide unemployment benefits to their employees for the first time, 501c3 charitable nonprofits were given the option to opt out of the State Unemployment Tax system and have been permitted by Congress to self-insure claims for unemployment benefits by paying back the state unemployment trust fund for benefits paid to their former employees. These “reimbursing employers” include nonprofits, state and local governments, and federally recognized Indian Tribes that follow the law by electing to make payments in lieu of contributions to state unemployment trust funds.

As currently enacted into law, Section 2103 of the CARES Act provides that the federal government will cover 50 percent of the cost of claims charged to these reimbursing employers.  This will subject self-funded nonprofits throughout the country to crippling payments to their state unemployment systems later this year, while other employers will likely experience little or no additional costs resulting from mass COVID-19-related layoffs. The impacts will be real. Many nonprofits will be hit with a bill for reimbursement to states at a time when the demand for services is highest.

Seventy-five percent of payroll costs in the nonprofit sector are paid out by “reimbursing employers.”  Together, these organizations provide much of the infrastructure that we rely on to serve people in all our communities. Addressing this issue by providing 100% reimbursement for these nonprofits will help ensure that they will be able to better direct their limited resources to serving vulnerable people through the care and services they provide every day.

RRF Foundation for Aging recently awarded Lutheran Services in America a grant to conduct a year-long process evaluation of LSA Senior Connect, an enhanced service coordinator program piloted in Toledo, Ohio. The grant will allow researchers from the LTSS Center @UMass Boston to explore how LSA Senior Connect was implemented, with an eye toward informing and guiding replication of LSA Senior Connect in additional low-income and affordable housing communities for older adults. The study will also contribute to ongoing policy discussions addressing the need for increased investment in supportive services delivered in low-income and affordable housing for older adults across the country.

LSA Senior Connect is a person-centered service coordination model developed by Lutheran Services in America and 13 of its member organizations for supporting low-income older adults with chronic health illness within their homes and communities. LSA Senior Connect retrains caregivers to assess the needs of older adults, creates individualized care plans driven by the older adult, and connects the older adult to services and supports that could help them improve their health and quality of life while maintaining their independence.

Thirteen low-income and affordable housing sites of Genacross Lutheran Services in Toledo, Ohio, implemented LSA Senior Connect in February 2019. Initial screening of residents in the program identified unmet needs for social determinants of health including nutrition, transportation, social isolation, home safety, and mobility. For more than a year, service coordinators in the program have been working to address these needs by providing program participants with access to such services as healthy food, reliable transportation to medical appointments, in-home supports, and physical therapy.

The LTSS Center will conduct qualitative in-depth interviews of Lutheran Services in America and Genacross Lutheran Services staff, service coordinators, property managers, residents, and community partners over the next year to evaluate the process. The study of this implementation will guide replication efforts of this enhanced service coordination program and help increase investment in support services delivered for older adults at home.

More than 200 member organizations in Lutheran Services in America’s network of 300 nonprofit health and human service providers serve the needs of older adults.