direct support professional

support specialist

design manager

site coordinator

case manager

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota

Before working for LSS, my idea of a group home settings was basically a paid baby sitter.  Which I hated.  I didn't want to sit someone in front of a TV and walk away.
Working here changed my idea of what a group home setting can be.  

LSS goes Above and Beyond to bring the people we support into the community and have a voice that says "Hey, We're Here!".  And in a setting where we constantly encourage independence, it constantly fills me with pride when we achieve a goal that has never been met before.  

Lutheran Social Services has been a great company to work for.  The pay is better than most and Corporate is working on getting us higher wages through political representation and actions.  Management has never made me feel as though I'm just a grunt worker.  The corporate side is always interested in our feed back and is continuously encouraging a fun atmosphere.

The Hardest part of my job is thinking of new ways or ideas to encourage independence.  But with new stories of other peoples accomplishments we never lack encouragement to keep trying.

This is the most person centered organization that I've ever worked at. They really focus on the individual served and let them make choices in their life. This has helped many people grow and succeed in community integration.

My management encourages  us to have our 7 F's balanced. Fun, Future, Family , Finance, Faith, Fitness, Friends. It's up to us to arrange the schedule we need to do this. We have a "Alive" work place, for fun at work, but all in all the work we do is very meaningful to us. We work as a team to accomplish our PATH. We all have performance goals we work on, we can achieve merit raises each year for working on these and keeping our performance up there.

Sure we are busy with all the 245D regulations, and ensuring peoples preferences, health, and safety are being met. We are always given opportunity to seek out tools or resources that help us do efficiently as possible. Meetings and training are there to support us to stay in compliance and problem solve together. We really want to support people in all areas of life. We don't just focus on one area.

This will be my 12th year with LSS.  I started as a DSP and changed positions twice to a House Coordinator presently.  I have always had a flexible schedule with all of the positions I have worked.  Although my work load is larger now, the scheduling allows me to balance my work/home life a lot better than it was juggled before.  There are times where i'm contacted outside my scheduled hours but it is fair for my position.  I can't imagine doing any other work in the years I've been here and those ahead.  We are able to come to work and make a difference in someone's day by supporting them to achieve their hopes and dreams.  We work in a positive atmosphere and work in an ALIVE workplace to promote that positivity and fun.  LSS of MN also offers competitive benefits to those who are seeking a full- time in a job market where benefits are competitive to begin with.  I get what I need to support my son and I and am happy to be employed at LSS of MN and have so many enjoyable years under my belt! I would recommend it to anyone with a big heart looking to make a difference and change lives while working.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The mission at LSS is inspiring, the executive leadership are visionary, approachable, and advocates. The people supported, diverse service options, and the dedicated team members who do the amazing work are inspiring. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Staffing in the direct care fields. Legislation has not caught up with market conditions and the low reimbursement does not allow for non profits to be competitive. 

Human Resource responsiveness, support, and consistency is challenging for management. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I enjoy the work environment and my colleagues. Like many organizations, there are pockets where the culture or department can be negative. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The day begins with addressing emails and phone calls. Some focus time on open projects. There is a culture of meetings here; meetings can be touch points, issue mitigation, training, networking, and / or project based meetings.

I worked for Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota NOT Wisconsin or Upper Michigan.
This was my first position in management so I had a lot to earn. The company couldn’t have been better with all the help they gave me. The regional and statewide gatherings were wonderful in building company relationships but also in all the new material we needed to digest. 
No two days were  ever the same. Monday might find me doing paperwork for annual/ semiannual reviews, Tuesday I may be accompanying one of our consumers to a medical appointment. Wednesday may find me submitting payroll and doing actts payable. Thursday I may be conducting interviews for potential hires or having staff meetings and in services. Hopefully I have Friday to complete everything that I may not have finished earlier in the week. 
The hardest part of the job was staff discipline issues. They happened so rarely that I felt inept at handling them.
The most enjoyable were the  times I could spend unlimited time just enjoying our consumers. Doing something special with each one.

Joined LSS of MN due to the mission of the organization.  Have never been so demoralized by the soul crushing micro-management, and nothing but disparaging words form the “leader” of the line of service I’m with.  This toxic person has destroyed our team and has been allowed to continue to do so every day even though the executive leadership is aware of the impact this leader’s behavior has on the employees.  There have been several mass exoduses from this team, and yet they allow the behavior of this leader to continue.  There is no recourse for the employees on this team, which is why I’ve turned to Indeed to warn others NOT to join LSS of MN.  They do not care for the mental and emotional well-being of their employees.  They allow the harassing behavior of one leader to impact the personal and professional lives of an entire team. Biggest disappointment of my career.

I love the mission statement and how LSS tries to implement that with each staff. My typical day at work is supporting people to reach their work goals and to help support them when they struggle.  I was there to help staff and to support people to find a job that means something to them.  I always call it a dream job but what people really want is to have a job where they are appreciated for what they do.   Most people want to have a job where they feel like they make a difference in the world.  I always feel like there is an open door between my supervisor and myself.  When I have had concerns, my supervisor took the time and effort to help me and make sure I felt a part of the team and my concern was important.  I don't always get the answer I want but I did feel it was looked into and I therefore felt important.

I have worked as a Direct Support Professional for 18 years, for 4 different companies in 2 different states. One of the companies was a smaller one, the others were large (over 100 employees). Of the larger companies, LSS has been the best large company I have worked for. They have an emphasis on both person-centered services and on developing employees' skills and interests. I have appreciated the learning opportunities, and the feedback I get from supervisors. They also emphasize a work-life balance by offering full-time employees the most generous leave package I have seen in this field. While most holidays are not paid due to the 24/7 nature of this work, full-time employees receive floating holidays in addition to PTO. 

I'm very happy here, and I encourage anyone interested in this field to give LSS a try.

I got told during my interview that my schedule will be made out one month a head of time so you can have a good work/life balance, well that changed within the first few days of working there. Changes were made to my schedule constantly by the HC and was never discussed with me before making the changes.
Poor communication, when it came to how to care for the self advocates, and how to write T-logs. Certain self advocates got treated really good, while one of the other self advocates were not treated very well, and other staff including the HC admitted to wanting one of the self advocates to get kicked out, so I was told to only document bad behavior for one of the self advocates, I should not be documenting good behavior if the self advocate really did do something good. I feel the staff did not get treated equal. And the self advocates did not get treated equal among the 4 that lived in the home.

Working at Lutheran Social Services has been a highly rewarding experience. The work we do is meaningful and impactful, making a real difference in the lives of those we serve. The positive environment and great coworkers make each day fulfilling. The leaders genuinely care about both the staff and the people we help, creating a supportive and encouraging workplace culture.

While the work can be emotionally draining due to the challenges of dealing with marginalized populations, chemical dependency, mental health disorders, and homelessness, the sense of purpose and camaraderie among the team make it worthwhile. Overall, Lutheran Social Services is a wonderful place to work for those passionate about making a difference in their community.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 577 salaries reported	$16.74 per hour
Support specialist 315 salaries reported	$20.10 per hour
Design manager 175 salaries reported	$48,556 per year
Site coordinator 80 salaries reported	$13.63 per hour
Case manager 36 salaries reported	$22.28 per hour

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