Lauren's Institute for Education

What it reported doing in 2024

Community services department: l.i.f.e. Offers consumers and their families several different options to receive care services in-home and within the community including habilitation (hah), respite (rsp), and attendant care (atc). Habilitation consists of a direct support professional (dsp) providing teaching methods to help a consumer be more independent. Respite involves a dsp providing supervision and care for a consumer for short periods to give regular caregivers a break. Attendant care includes a dsp assisting a consumer with personal hygiene tasks (e.g., dressing, brushing teeth, toileting) and activities of daily living (e.g., eating, housekeeping chores) to assist a consumer in maintaining their health and healthy living conditions.therapy department: we have multiple therapy disciplines all under one roof which is convenient for caregivers and allows us to provide a true team approach to therapy. Our therapists serve consumers that come to l.i.f.e. Exclusively for therapy services as well as consumers enrolled in our academy and our adult day treatment program. We provide music therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and feeding therapy. See more detail on these services in schedule o.music therapymusic therapy addresses functional goals in the areas of communication, socialization, motor movements, attention span, and emotional awareness through use of musical interventions such as creating, singing, moving to, and/or listening to music. For example, for a consumer with a goal to increase their number of spoken words, the music therapist may use songs that promote verbal participation at specific times in a song. Occupational therapyoccupational therapists look at what elements support or hinder successful participation for a consumer, which often includes the environment, sensory processing, behavior, motor skills, language, and cognitive skill development. They then create individualized activities for each consumer to help them achieve independence and well-being. For example, they may work on hand muscle strengthening using putty so that a consumer can successfully button a shirt.physical therapyphysical therapy helps consumers improve in the areas of gross motor skills. Physical therapists look at whether a consumer is functioning at age-appropriate level in physical skills such as mobility, coordination, and strength and then determine interventions to help address areas of concern. For example, they may use therapy ball activities to strengthen a consumer's core muscles so that they can learn to roll or maintain their balance when riding a bike.speech therapyspeech/language therapy focuses on remediating speech, language, and social communication. A speech disorder involves difficulties producing sounds in words, whereas a language disorder involves difficulties understanding words/sentences and communicating wants and needs. For example, a speech therapist may practice with a consumer on different ways to introduce themselves to others if they have a goal of improved social communication. Feeding therapyfeeding therapy is provided by occupational therapists or assistants or speech therapists or assistants that have obtained additional training in the specialty of feeding therapy. These therapists use carefully chosen interventions to address concerns such as only eating a very limited number or type of food and/or to improve oral motor skills to reduce concerns like gagging, choking, or aspiration.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 78.6%; rating input score 79
• Program expense ratio: 80.8%; rating input score 81
• Fundraising efficiency: $5.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 2.1%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.54; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 20.7% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings