Lutheran social services of Minnesota
Executive summary
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS/MN) is a large, century‑old social‑service nonprofit serving all 87 Minnesota counties with over 2,500 staff; it offers programs from refugee resettlement to mental‑health counseling and housing services [1] [2]. Recent reporting and public records show LSS has faced budget and staffing pressure tied to refugee program funding changes, while a contested online itemary claims it received $2,425 per Somali refugee — a claim appearing in a single outlet flagged here that lacks corroboration in other provided sources [3] [4].
1. Who LSS is and what it does — institutional scale and services
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota is one of the state’s largest social‑service nonprofits, tracing institutional roots to 1865, operating statewide and employing more than 2,500 people; its public materials list services including mental‑health care, housing supports, veteran services and refugee resettlement [1] [2]. Third‑party charity reviewers and local program directories describe similar service portfolios and emphasize work with elderly, disabled, youth and families across Minnesota [5] [6].
2. Funding and accountability records available in this file set
Public nonprofit filings and licensing data for LSS are referenced in these sources: the Minnesota DHS license lookup shows LSS holds an active Home and Community Based Services license renewed January 1, 2025 [7], and ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer lists filings for the organization [8]. Available sources do not mention detailed breakdowns of federal Reception and Placement grant receipts or per‑refugee payments beyond the claim in the single news item noted below.
3. Staffing changes and policy impacts — reported cuts in 2025
LSS publicly announced eliminating 27 staff positions in February 2025 and explicitly linked the cuts to a suspension of refugee admissions and the stoppage of related federal funds, according to local reporting in the Star Tribune [3]. That report frames the staffing reduction as a direct operational response to reduced federal refugee resettlement funding.
4. The $2,425‑per‑refugee claim — provenance and limits
A December 2, 2025 article on a site called “Pravda USA” asserts LSS “receives $2,425 for every Somali refugee it helps bring to the U.S.” and ties that figure to federal Reception and Placement grants [4]. In this document set that claim appears only in that single outlet; other sources in the set do not corroborate or document the $2,425 number, and official grant detail or LSS statements about per‑person payments are not present among the provided results [4] [8]. Therefore the $2,425 figure should be treated as unverified by the available reporting here.
5. What reputable sources in this set do confirm — staffing, salaries, and services
Independent employment sites and organizational materials provide verifiable points: Glassdoor lists salary ranges for LSS roles in 2025 (Direct Support Professional median/typical pay around $20/hour; Director roles up to roughly $103,872 annually) based on employee submissions [9]. Indeed and charity reviewers corroborate LSS’s broad footprint and mixed employee reviews, and program listings show concrete contact and access information for services [10] [5] [6].
6. Competing narratives and potential agendas
The single outlet that published the per‑refugee payment figure is part of a cluster of politically charged or opinionated sites; its headline framing (“EXPOSED”) signals an adversarial posture and may reflect an agenda to inflame or discredit resettlement work [4]. Local mainstream reporting about staff cuts (Star Tribune) documents organizational impacts tied to federal policy changes without using the same payment framing [3]. Readers should weigh the differences in tone and sourcing: the Star Tribune piece cites LSS statements about funding impacts, while the Pravda USA piece asserts specific payment figures without corroborating public grant records in this set [3] [4].
7. What’s missing from the available reporting and where to look next
Available sources do not mention LSS’s audited federal grant receipts, detailed Reception and Placement contract terms, or an LSS response that confirms or denies the $2,425 number [4] [8]. To resolve the payment claim, readers should consult federal refugee resettlement grant records (Department of State/Office of Refugee Resettlement grant databases), LSS’s own financial statements or 990 filings, and direct LSS press releases or communications; those documents are not included in the provided results (not found in current reporting).
8. Bottom line for readers
LSS is a large, multi‑service nonprofit with documented staffing and funding pressures tied to refugee program changes [1] [3]. A specific per‑refugee payment figure ($2,425) appears in one outlet here but lacks corroboration within these sources, so it remains unverified in this corpus [4]. Exercise caution: trust mainstream local reporting and primary financial records over single‑source sensational headlines when assessing claims about public grant amounts [3] [8].