There is a frequently quoted adage that claims “The only constant in life is change.”

It’s hard to argue against that observation. Change is inevitable in this ever-changing, rapidly changing, world. COBYS Family Services is no stranger to change, having adjusted to the needs and requirements of providing high quality, compassionate care to those with whom we journey in their time of need.

It is now official that COBYS has sold the “Old Mill” office at 1417 Oregon Road. The Business and Development departments now are in rental offices closer to 444 Murry Hill Circle, Lancaster where our foster care, adoption and family life education staff have been based for seven years.

The Counseling Center has moved and now sees clients at the Murry Hill Circle location.

Moving of offices aren’t the only recent changes at COBYS. Our Permanency Unit, at our third location on E. King Street in downtown Lancaster, has been steadily restaffing to meet the needs of our partnership with Lancaster Children and Youth Services. These dedicated staff have quickly adopted the COBYS Difference in the way care is provided. This was evident in a recent, quickly arranged 5-hours trip to a neighboring state to bring back a runaway youth to give them a chance to start anew.

The Family Life Education department has been moving forward too. COBYS is the North American “Trainer of Trainers” for the Blues Program, the evidence-based prevention program for teens with symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression. In the past year, the number of new trainers as grown almost 400% (training 292 Blues trainers), conducting 26 training classes which included people from 11 states and Canada
and Mexico.

COBYS Resource Home Unit has significantly revamped the pre-service training process for foster and foster-to-adopt parents. The new training, which occurs prior to licensing, is a streamlined combination of training videos and mostly virtual, live sessions. These updates have eliminated redundancies, added more evidence-based instruction and personalization. The new training almost cuts in half the number of hours previously needed, while being more advanced to help families deal with the issues they face. Additional training is a continual process for foster families throughout their time of fostering.

The trend we are encountering in the Foster Care and Adoption units is the increasing number of difficult cases. The trauma experienced by the clients our staff is serving is more pronounced in a field of work where the norm already starts with hard, messy situations. Yet these teams move forward with united efforts to work through the challenges and remarkably continue to do so with compassion and grace.

Clearly, COBYS has recently experienced an upswing of changes and challenges. And while change is inevitable, one constant is our mission to provide care and service to children, individuals and families who are dealing with real, often dire issues.

For COBYS, that commitment is as constant as change.

 

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