Lutheran Social Services of the South

Our children's Services included our foster in Texas program where a family partners with upbring to open their home and their hearts to a child in need, providing support for immediate needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Upbring also provides long-term support to help children build strong bonds with their new family members. Foster parents are trained in trauma-informed care, so they can help their children heal from the circumstances that brought them into foster care. Adoptions occur naturally through the foster in Texas program, and are complemented by domestic and international adoption Services to help children find their forever families. Bereal supports young adults aging out of foster care with housing, assistance for basic needs, and a strategy for achieving their life goals.

the office of refugee resettlement (orr) in Texas and throughout the united states helps new populations integrate into american life by connecting them to critical resources. Upbring operates four orr programs in Texas for children who have migrated to the u.s. alone or with other minors. Rather than being deported, children who cross the border alone from central america are turned over to orr, held in designated facilities and provided with Services until their family members can be located. This experience alone can be scary, but the staff at upbring shelters provide the children with around-the-clock attention, caring for their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Residential treatment programs include life-changing work being done at our new life and krause children's centers that provide a safe place for girls from across Texas to heal from childhood traumas. Upbring's children's shelters and transitional foster care programs provide care and support from our compassionate staff and nurturing foster parents until their families can be located.

Education Services include headstart and early headstart preschool programs that help children from low-income families prepare to start kindergarten ready to learn. Education Services also include programs at upbring school of arts and sciences in austin. the school provides education Services to children ages six-weeks to elementary age, reserving spaces for children in the foster care system.

Community Services are provided primarily in lubbock, Texas and help those in need with emergency assistance for food, utilities, prescriptions, free health screenings and consultations.

Community integration and innovation initiatives: as families continue to face the stressors of poverty, drug addiction, isolation and other risk factors that can lead to the abuse of children, our attention and resources will continue to be focused on developing a framework designed to drive transformative change in breaking the cycle of child abuse through: innovative programs, new partnerships and an expanding network of community Services.