1. LSS Educational Assistance Benefits To proceed to the next slide, click the “NEXT” buttons as shown here:
Welcome to another installment of the LSS Benefits Orientation recorded presentation series. This presentation focuses on all of the LSS educational assistance benefits! I’m Denis, and I’m Kaitlin. This presentation will focus on all the components and features of the various LSS programs designed to help you attend school and further develop your career at LSS. Whether you are part-time or full-time, chances are there’s a program that can help you.
Remember that on each slide of this presentation, you’ll see a “NEXT” button. Click on that button to move to the next slide when you’re ready. Also, please be sure to read all the information on each slide, as well as listen to our voice narration. Sometimes we’ll mention information not shown in the text, and sometimes there’ll be text on the slide we won’t read.

2. Educational Financial Assistance
This recorded presentation is meant to provide you an overview of the LSS Educational Financial Assistance benefits you may be eligible for as a member of our LSS team, and help you understand which is the best option for you
We’ll cover these 4 programs:
● Tuition Reimbursement
● Nursing Scholarship Program
● C.N.A. & C.M.T. Assistance
● Ruth & Willis Piehl Scholarship
Whether you are studying to become a Certified Nurse Assistant, a Registered Nurse, a Chef, an Accountant or any other profession that LSS has staff performing, there is an educational assistance benefit program for you. Even if you’re not studying to pursue a post-secondary degree or certification… Maybe you feel you need to study ‘English as a second language’ to further your career at LSS; or maybe you need to obtain your GED to further your career. Whatever you are striving for, LSS wants to partner with you to help make it happen.

3. Educational Financial Assistance
Aligned with our LSS Core Values, Employee Benefits at LSS are designed to support the recruitment and retention of the talented individuals we need to live out our mission of “Older Adults Living Life to the Fullest”…
Talented individuals like YOU
These benefits may in fact be the best example of LSS placing “people first”. These benefits are designed around helping you live your life to the fullest, to obtain the education you need to grow your career and achieve your professional dreams. LSS has many different jobs that utilize the skills and knowledge from a lot of different courses of study… whatever your interests are, most likely there’s a position within LSS that needs your skills and knowledge.

4. Educational Financial Assistance
We encourage employees to continue developing their professional skills by providing educational as Tuition Reimbursement – Up to $10,000 for FT employees studying any post-secondary education that can prepare them for a career at LSS
Nursing Scholarship – Up to $10,000 for FT employees studying to become an LPN or RN staff nurse, including obtaining their Master’s in Nursing
C.N.A. & C.M.T. Educational Assistance – Can cover the entire cost of tuition for becoming a C.N.A. or a C.M.T., including compensation for time spent in class and in the student’s clinicals (available for both FT & PT employees)
Ruth & Willis Piehl Scholarship - Up to $500 for any employee’s tuition, books and other fees, including courses for earning one’s GED or studying English As a Second Language
Repayment of financial assistance will be required if you leave LSS employment and/or do not fulfill all commitments agreed upon as outlined in each program’s individual policy
To learn more about the LSS educational benefits, visit or visit LSSLink to review each program’s HR Policy in detail
Each of the four LSS educational assistance benefit programs are designed for a different group of employees pursuing different areas of study…
Are you a full time employee who wants to study any field other than nursing? Then our general Tuition reimbursement program will be the best for you. Are you a full time employee who wants to study to become a registered nurse or an lpn (i.e. licensed practical nurse) or even to obtain your masters in nursing or MSN? Then our Nursing Scholarship program will be the best for you. Are you part-time or full-time or a casual status caregiver with home and community based services, and want to become a certified nurse assistant (also known as a cna) or a certified medical technician (also known as a cmt)? Then our CNA and CMT educational assistance program will be the best for you. Are you a casual, part time or full time employee who wants to study anything not covered by the first three programs I mentioned, including even obtaining your GED or taking an ‘English as a second language’ program? Then our Ruth and willis piehl scholarship program will be the best for you.
Whatever your interests, LSS wants to partner with you. Not only to help you grow professionally but to also benefit our organization by developing your talents to serve our residents even more so. Because LSS is investing in you as a way to support our mission, repayment of financial assistance will be required if you leave LSS employment and/or do not fulfill all commitments agreed upon as outlined in each program’s individual policy.

5. Educational Financial Assistance
Your first step should be to complete the “Educational Assistance Request Form” before you begin any classes, to be sure you qualify and have all the approvals required in advance.
You can access the form here:
No matter which program you choose, you’ll want to complete a ‘request for lss educational assistance’ form first, and turn that into your hr representative before your classes begin. There is just one form to complete for all four programs but different programs may require different approvals before the form ends up with your hr representative. The form should be clear so you know whose signatures you need, but if you have any questions, do not hesitate to talk with your HR rep and ask – they can assist you and answer any questions you may have.

6. Tuition Reimbursement
This program, and the Ruth & Willis Piehl Scholarship, are the two programs that support the widest variety of educational courses
This program can provide up to $3,000 per year ($10,000 lifetime) for any post-secondary education that can prepare the employee to perform the work of a position LSS employs
To be eligible, one must be in a Full-time role* for at least 12 months, and be in “good standing” which means no disciplinary action in the employee’s HR File in the past 12 months
This program will reimburse the employee 75% of their tuition costs up to the max amount allowed per year, after the employee completes the class/program and submits a copy of their qualifying grade
*Casual status “Caregivers” employed by Home & Community Based Services are eligible if they have averaged 30 or more hours/week over the prior 12 months.
To learn more about this particular program and review all of the policy details, please visit LSSLink and search the Human Resources Policies section
Our oldest program, the general tuition reimbursement program, supports the greatest amount of different courses of study for those employees who are full-time. This program can provide up to $3,000 per year ($10,000 lifetime) for any post-secondary education that can prepare the employee to perform the work of any position LSS employs – from a Chef to a Human resources professional, from an accountant to a management degree. To be eligible, one must be in a Full-time role for at least 12 months (or a caregiver with home and community based services that has averaged 30 or more hours per week), and be in “good standing” which means no disciplinary action in the employee’s HR File in the past 12 months. This program will reimburse you 75% of their tuition costs up to $3,000 per year, after you complete the class/program and submit a copy of your qualifying grade. What grades qualify may differ based upon what program you’re studying, so be sure to review the HR Policy called “tuition reimbursement” for details.

7. Nursing Scholarship
This program is designed specifically for employees of an LSS Nursing department who wish to study to become an LPN Staff Nurse, an RN Staff Nurse or acquire their Masters of Nursing (MSN)
This program will pre-pay up to $5,000 per year (up to $10,000 lifetime) for cost of tuition to become an LPN/RN/MSN
To be eligible, one must be in a Full-time role for at least 12 months, and be in “good standing” which means no disciplinary action in the employee’s HR File in the past 12 months
Acceptance into this program must be approved in advance of your schooling beginning, including the approval of your Community/Program’s nursing leadership team as well as the LSS Executive VP & Administrative Officer
To learn more about this particular program and review all of the policy details, please visit LSSLink and search the Human Resources Policies section
This program is designed specifically for employees of an LSS Nursing department who wish to study to become an LPN Staff Nurse, an RN Staff Nurse or acquire their Masters of Nursing (MSN). This program will pre-pay up to $5,000 per year (and up to $10,000 lifetime) for the cost of tuition to become an LPN/RN/MSN. Unlike the tuition reimbursement that will pay you 75% of your tuition after the class ends, this program will pay you 100% of the tuition before classes begin. To be eligible, one must be in a Full-time role for at least 12 months, and be in “good standing” which means no disciplinary action in the employee’s HR File in the past 12 months. To learn more about this particular program and review all of the policy details, please visit LSSLink and search the Human Resources Policies section.

8. CNA & CMT Educational Assistance
This program is designed specifically for employees who want to become a Certified Nurse Assistant (C.N.A.) or Certified Medication Technician (C.M.T.) and to remove all financial barriers from doing so
Provides financial assistance towards both the cost of tuition and all books/supplies, as well as compensation for time spent in class and time spent completing the student’s clinicals
This program is available for both Full-time and Part-time employees (16+ hrs./week)* that have been employed by LSS for at least 6 months and are in “good standing” which means no disciplinary actions in their HR File within the past 6 months
The 6-month eligibility rule does not apply to employees in a “Nurse Assistant, In-Training” position; Employees in this role may qualify for this benefit immediately upon hire
*Casual status “Caregivers” employed by Home & Community Based Services are eligible as a Part- time employee if they have averaged 20 or more hours over the prior 6 months
To learn more about this particular program and review all of the policy details, please visit LSSLink and search the Human Resources Policies section
This program is designed specifically for employees who want to become a Certified Nurse Assistant (C.N.A.) or Certified Medication Technician (C.M.T.) and to remove all financial barriers from doing so. Often times, individuals wanting to study and become a c.n.a. or c.m.t. not only cannot afford tuition, they can’t afford to work less hours and go with out pay either. And often times, it’s really challenging to go to school AND work full-time. That’s why this program is designed specifically to remove that particular barrier… this program not only covers the entire cost of tuition (of certain programs), books and supplies, but it also pays you your full salary while you’re in class and for the time you spend completing your clinicals or on the job training that is part of each of these programs. This program basically makes it financially do-able in every way to reach for this dream and develop your career into this very much sought after career. This program is available for both Full-time and Part-time employees (including casual caregivers with home and community based services) that have been employed by LSS for at least 6 months and are in “good standing” which means no disciplinary actions in their HR File within the past 6 months.
Let’s say you’d prefer to not even wait 6-months to participate in this program… if that’s the case, you should apply for one of LSS’s “Nurse Assistant, In-Training” positions. Employees in this role may qualify for this benefit immediately upon placement in to the role. Applying for this position is your quickest way to becoming a c.n.a.

9. CNA & CMT Educational Assistance
Financial assistance for studying to become a…
C.N.A. may be as much as $ pre-paid plus your hourly wage paid for all time spent in class and in clinical work
C.M.T. may be as much as $ pre-paid plus your hourly wage paid for all time spent in class and in clinical work
If you live in the St. Louis metropolitan area, we highly encourage you to consider attending Senior Care Network’s CNA/CMT Training Academy which partners with LSS to provide you schooling at an LSS Community and discounted tuition for being an LSS employee. To learn more about this school, please visit
To learn more about this particular program and review all of the policy details, please visit LSSLink and search the Human Resources Policies section
When we said on the last slide that this CNA and CMT program covers the entire cost of tuition for certain programs, it’s because this benefit is designed around our partner school, the senior care network training academy. The Senior Care network training academy charges a special rate for LSS employees of $725 for their cna program and $490 for their cmt program. Our benefit covers every penny of that tuition. If you’re attending a cn.a or cmt school other than the senior care network training academy, your tuition may be a little more than this and will be your responsibility to pay. But if you attend the senior care network school, you’ll pay nothing for tuition. Plus remember, we’ll pay you for your time in class and clinicals no matter what school you attend. Follow this link here to visit this school’s website and learn more about this perfect partnership between LSS and the senior care network.

10. Ruth & Willis Piehl Scholarship
This program supports the greatest amount of LSS employees plus the widest variety of educational courses
All LSS employees (except PRN employees) are eligible
Receive up to $500 pre-paid per year (or $5,000 lifetime)
Covers the cost of tuition, books and other fees
Eligible studies are any schooling that will help enhance the employee’s career at LSS, including courses for earning one’s GED or studying English As a Second Language
To learn more about this particular program and review all of the program details, please visit
This program, which is funded entirely by the generosity of the Piehl family, supports the greatest variety of LSS employees plus the widest variety of educational courses. All LSS employees (except PRN employees) are eligible to receive up to $500 pre-paid per year (or $5,000 lifetime). This money upfront can cover the cost of tuition, books and any other fees associated with your studies. Eligible studies are any schooling that will help enhance the employee’s career at LSS, including courses for earning one’s GED (which is the equivalent of a high school diploma) or studying English As a Second Language to become more fluent in the predominant language of American business.
Thanks to the Piehl family, who have played such an important role in the LSS history over these many years, there’s never been a better opportunity to develop your career.

11. Employee Benefits @ LSS
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Thanks for watching and don’t forget that you can find a lot more info on our benefits website at www dot lss living dot org back slash benefits.