Linda Tedford was a single parent of two young children who worked full-time when she first learned about PICS (Partners in Community Supports), a subsidiary of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS). “I didn’t realize that there were options for me to actually have people who were in my family as paid caregivers for my son Chris,” recalled Linda.

We recently added a translation tool to our website to increase access to our resources and information. Each page is now available in Hmong, Somali and Spanish, as well as English.

Minnesota’s legislative session is in full swing. PICS’ Advocacy Team is monitoring several bills in the Minnesota House and Senate that might affect the daily lives of PICS families.

Staying connected is more important than ever. At PICS (Partners in Community Supports), we want to make sure that you’re informed about free and low-cost options for internet access at home and in the community.

Describing self-directed services to those unfamiliar with them can be a challenge. It helps to hear directly from families who use them to understand the positive impact self-directed services can have in their lives.

We love finding new ways to connect with our community and are excited to launch our new quarterly PICS E-newsletter. In this newsletter you will find the latest updates at PICS, ways to connect with us on social media, a spotlight of another service of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, upcoming events, and other exciting news from PICS, like our advocacy and anti-racism work.

PICS (Partners in Community Supports) formed the Anti-Racism Work Group (ARWG) in 2020 with the mission to uncover, interrupt and dismantle systems of oppression as we encounter them in our work.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is currently experiencing significant delays in mail processing and delivery. We want to make sure you are aware of these delays and the impact they may have on you. For example, if you mail your timecard to PICS, this could result in you or your Workers getting paid late.

PICS would like to minimize the impact felt by our customers as much as possible, and, with these delays in mind, we wanted to share alternate ways to get your important documents to PICS:

Tory Merhar, who joined Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota in 2016 as the Senior Director of Partners in Community Supports (PICS), has recently stepped into the new role of Senior Operations Director.

New terms of agreement between SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and the State of Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has been reached, and these changes go into effect October 1, 2021.