Who We Are

Life Steps Foundation, Inc., began providing children’s services in 1983 as a partnership among three mental health professionals who identified the need for in-home educational and preventive interventions as an alternative for individuals and families unwilling or unable to receive services in institutional settings. We are dedicated to assisting clients with self-advocacy in attaining the community inclusion they desire and maximizing their potential within a safe, supportive environment. The organization has evolved from a "mom-and-pop" operation based in the South Bay of Los Angeles County to an enterprise with over 290 employees serving 1,200 clients within the Southern, Northern and Central Coast areas.

Life Steps Foundation provides in-home and community-based services across the life span to those who have developmental and/or physical challenges, the frail elderly, senior citizens and disadvantaged families. Programs are also offered for parents with special needs, minority groups and other high-risk populations challenged by substance abuse, premature birth, prenatal substance exposure, child abuse/neglect and social or economic deprivation. Life Steps Foundation programs serve all ages and include infant in-home and center-based programs, social skills training for adolescents, in-home and center-based programs for adults who have developmental delays, and center-based programs for seniors.

A Board of Directors oversees Life Steps Foundation and each of its Affiliates. The board, staff, and clients served reflect broad cultural diversity, including minorities of Hispanic, African-American and Asian descent. A primary purpose of the organization is to reach out to underserved populations and, in collaboration with clients, provide excellent quality services that respect individual differences and needs. Life Steps Foundation and its Affiliates comprise a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Services are funded by state and federal resources as well as private pay and grants. The regional centers finance the majority of the programs for clients who have developmental disabilities. Medi-Cal funds the senior programs.

Life Steps Self Sufficiency Model

In June of 2008, Life Steps Foundation (LSF) completed a four-year initiative to decentralize our operations by encouraging our proven programs to incorporate as independent nonprofits with their own 501(c)3 tax status and local Board of Directors. The programs remain part of Life Steps Foundation as Affiliates under the newly formed umbrella of the LSF Group. Rounding out the new LSF Group are the Corporate Services Units, comprised of Accounting, Human Resources, Development & Marketing, Training & Clinical Quality Management, and IT. The Corporate Services Units function as strategic partners, providing a range of support services and 25 plus years of best practices and expertise to our Affiliates for a 17% fee. As a leaner, decentralized organization, LSF Group is dedicated at all levels to promoting critical thinking, creativity, situational leadership and the tenets of social enterprise with clients’ wellbeing as its foremost goal.