By J. Michael Lausch, Ed.D., Executive Director at COBYS Family Services

A feature piece from our Summer 2025 issue of the Lancaster Thriving Publication

Think back to when you were a young child or teenager. You likely relied on your parents or other family members to meet your basic needs, to provide a safe place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear and nurturing guidance as you grew. The influence of supportive adults has presumably helped you become the professional and community leader you are today. Now, imagine as a child being removed from the home you know and placed in foster care. Foster care was necessary because you weren’t safe and cared for. You’re wondering, Where am I going to live?, and Does anyone love me? If you are a teen, you might be wondering, How am I going to complete high school?, or Will there be anyone to support me as I get a job?

Children are placed in foster care in Lancaster County and throughout the region each day for a variety of societal reasons. Foster care is happening all the time, but in many cases, it goes unnoticed, unsupported and certainly under-appreciated. This is where COBYS Family Services (COBYS) steps in.

COBYS, a non-profit human services organization headquartered in Lancaster, educates, supports and empowers children and adults to reach their full potential. Motivated by Christian faith, we serve foster and adoptive children, while also providing a range of mental health and parenting services to children, teens and adults.

A Call for Community Action

Over 45 years of service, COBYS has seen many families answer the call to foster and adopt.

For an experienced foster family, reunification of children with their biological family was paramount, “The most rewarding thing, by far, was seeing a sibling group be able to go home to a stable, healthy environment because their parents worked hard and sacrificed to restore their family.  We are still in touch with those kids, and it is so fulfilling to see them growing and thriving with their family.”

For another family, their call to foster comes from the feeling that, “Everyone needs a forever family, where they feel like they belong and are loved unconditionally.”

The number of foster and adoptive families available has decreased in recent years at the local, state and national level. According to Mary Sourber, director of placement services at COBYS, “There has been a13% decrease in foster homes in Pennsylvania since 2023. Yet despite this context, we see hope every day when children and families receive the care they need, experience healing through mental health care and develop tools to lead fulfilling lives.”

For example, a COBYS family with two biological teen sons have also opened their home to foster teenage boys for years. They recently adopted their second foster son, a young man who now can thrive in a safe, loving environment.

Or the slightly “later-than-most-families-start” couple who were drawn to foster and then adopted a preteen sibling group of two girls and a boy. The parents offer unconditional love, stability and guidance while the children fill the home with hope, joy and activity the parents longed for.

And hope shows up in the work of our staff. Like the caseworker who advocates so a mom in prison can still have visits with her children as she serves time and works toward making changes that may allow reunification when she is released.

Or the relentless kindness and persistent, creative attempts by caseworkers that finally break through to find common ground and gain the trust of a foster child who has few life lessons on how or why to trust.  

Foster and adoptive families say it best themselves, noting that, “Watching foster children grow, teaching them, having them teach you, building that relationship with them and their bio family is our greatest joy.” 

This kind of care doesn’t happen without dedication and a calling to care by families, and it doesn’t happen without a supportive community of individuals, businesses and churches aiding agencies like COBYS. Financial and in-kind support from the wider community allows us to deliver respectful and compassionate care. Without these resources, government funding simply does not cover the true cost of care and COBYS would not exist to help those who need it most.

Become A Community Partner

COBYS Family Services (COBYS), is a non-profit human services agency called to care for kids and their parents. The work of COBYS is serious. It is challenging. It is sometimes messy. It is often heartbreaking. But it is necessary. And honorable. And life-altering. 

And it can even be joyful.

Our expert staff come alongside children and adults at unsettling and often chaotic times in their lives. We work to:

• Provide our clients with as much stability as possible.
• Protect children through a servant spirit.
• Do everything we can to provide a more stable, hopeful future for all we serve.

Businesses of all sizes with a community-minded spirit can help spread the word about the need for foster parents and how families can learn more.

• Can your business share information with employees?
• Does your retail location have space for a small display, are you willing to share the need on packaging or through social media?

Donors and local businesses can also support COBYS with financial gifts and sponsorships to fill the gap between the bare-bones services that state and county funding covers and the personal care COBYS provides. That commitment to serve with compassionate care, to make a difference in a child’s life, a family’s life, the community’s life is why and how we do our jobs. It is the COBYS Difference.

Businesses and donors can be a part of the COBYS Difference too. Contact Anne Stokes, director of development & communications at anne@cobys.org to find out how.

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