By Rachel Kuhr, Jewish Family Service director of adoption and foster care services
We were thrilled to hold our annual Jewish Family Service Adoption and Foster Care Picnic in person recently. Because of COVID-19, it was the first one we have been able to plan in three years. JFS staff joined with several families at Green Hills and had a great day. 
At every picnic that we have EVER held, there seems to be a pattern. First people are not sure who to talk to and how. Then they eat and swim, or swim and eat. And then there is a point, a moment, when all the JFS staff look out and think, Voila!
The families are talking to each other. The three teen girls are doing crafts together. An older youth who was adopted many years ago is trying to draw the shy toddler into a smile. The five-year-old children have organized a game a tag. And the moms, well, the moms are trading recipes and IEP strategies. Maybe the dads are joining in. Or maybe they are playing tag, too.
That is why we hold a picnic, why staff give up a weekend afternoon to carry ice and juice boxes and trays of food to the pavilion by the pool. We know that our families do best when they are connected to each other. And we, as the professionals, have families to learn from. Our families benefit when we can say to one parent, you should talk to this other parent who had a similar experience navigating the system of have a child hospitalized last month.
Our families benefit when a child shows up and asks for the other child they were playing with last time, and they want to play again. Our families do best when they use each other for support, for a respite and leave us out of the equation. We doubt we will ever be out of a job, but when our families grow beyond needing us, we know we are doing what is best for everyone.
JFS wants to thank Terri Travers, JCC Program Director, and the JCC staff for making our picnic possible. Our families love being at Green Hills.
For more information about foster care, adoption from foster care or state funded support services for families after adoption, please call JFS at 717-233-1681 and ask to talk to someone in the program.
