Lutheran Social Services of Colorado

“The executive committee shall be comprised of the chair of the board, each vice-chair of the board, secretary, and the president. It shall act to give direction to the board and its committees. It shall also manage the affairs and property of the corporation between regular meetings of the board. The executive committee shall act for the board when the latter is not in session in regard to the conduct of urgent business that cannot wait for action of the board. Ratification of these actions by the board is required.”

“The corporation shall have one class of members which shall be: ( i) the rocky mountain synod of the evangelical lutheran church in america; and (ii) the rocky mountain district of the lutheran church-missouri synod.”

“Jurisdictional units of lutheran church bodies which accept the purpose of this corporation and desire membership in this corporation shall upon approval of the board become members and shall thereafter have the right to appoint a proportionate number of directors.”

“The board will be given a final draft of the 990 prior to filing in order to obtain any input or suggestions for modifications before it is filed.”

“During the first quarterly meeting of the board of directors each calendar year, the conflict of interest policy is reviewed and all members are required to submit written disclosures of perceived, potential and/or actual conflicts as defined in the policy. A reminder about the conflict of interest policy and the opportunity to disclose remains a standing part of every board meeting agenda, four times a year. All disclosures are reviewed by the chair of the board of directors and any potential conflicts are then brought before the executive committee of the board for review and mitigation as needed, at any of its regularly scheduled quarterly meetings.”

“Lfsrm outsources most human resources functions to a private vendor known as forte human resources (fhs). In 2006, fhs assisted the lfsrm executive team and board of directors to establish a compensation plan for the entire agency, which is "market based - performance driven". It starts with current job descriptions for every position that have been tiered into 10 levels with only the ceo in the 10th level. Each level has a low, middle and high pay scale range that is established by a full market review using several well-known salary surveys and "tested" against other non-profit and for-profit organizations in our industry areas. Every three years a full market salary survey is repeated and the levels and ranges are modified accordingly. Every year, a cost of living adjustment is applied to all levels. The board approves compensation for the ceo. Appropriate documentation of the board's review of the ceo's compensation is maintained by the organization.”

“The articles and bylaws of the corporation are on file with the colorado secretary of state and accessible through the freedom of information act. The organization retains a private audit company that performs an independent financial audit every year which is provided to all entities that provide funding via grants or contracts; and to federal and state regulatory bodies with jurisdiction over various elements of our programs and services. The colorado department of human services (codhs) conducts annual child welfare licensing audits that include review of our governing documents, financial statements and board of directors. Those audits are also on file at codhs and available to the public upon request. The 18-members of the board of directors practice a form of policy-based governance and utilize "best practice" such as submission of annual conflict of interest written disclosures, per policy; whistleblowers policy; code of ethics policy; monthly/quarterly financial statements; etc, which are all available to the public upon request.”

“In october 2013, lfsrm absorbed an agency in colorado springs, co that provides crisis respite care for children 0-6 years old, for up to 72 hours. Called the kpc kids place respite center, funding comes from a contract with el paso county human services, ascension lutheran church, private foundations, pikes peak united way and private contributions. Respite care is free to the client families and can be scheduled or walk-in. Staff also provide information and referral to parents to help them transition into affordable housing, employment or to help them receive counseling and support to prevent family breakdown or child abuse and neglect. As of june 30, 2014, kpc is providing 500 hours per month of respite care and is nearly at capacity.”

“Foster care services: in fy2014, lfsrm served 324 children and youth per night in 147 licensed foster homes located along the front range and eastern plains of colorado. These children can be referred from any of the 64 counties in colorado who retain custody of the children while managing their individual permanency plan options which include: reunification with biological parents; kinship care; adoption and other planned permanency arrangements. Lfsrm also provides foster care for unaccompanied refugee minors (urm) who are referred through the us state department office of refugee resettlement. All services are reimbursed by the federal government and these children/youth can remain in foster care through the age of 21. Once children reach the age of 18, they have the option of entering into one of our independent living programs (ilp) where they can live and practice skills needed to successfully transition to self-sufficient adulthood. They must remain actively engaged in education and/or employment while in ilp. There are currently 72 urm youth living in combined lfsrm foster care and ilp programs.”

“Change in trust valuation 373. Rounding 1.”