CASA celebrates anniversary, wants more Lebanon volunteers

CASA of Lancaster and Lebanon Counties is seeking more volunteers to help abused and neglected children in the foster care system.

CASA, or Court-Appointed Special Advocates, is a team of volunteer adults appointed by a judge to advocate for the best interests of children in foster care. CASA is celebrating its 15th year in Lancaster County and its fifth year in Lebanon, but it only took on its first Lebanon case in 2022.

Jessica Laspino, CASA’s executive director, said the organization has over 100 volunteers in Lancaster trained to work with these children. In Lebanon, she said there are only about 15.

“We are looking for more volunteers who want to get involved and help in the life of a vulnerable child, and we provide the training and the supervision in order to be effective for that role,” she said.

The organization is supporting about 11% of Lebanon’s children in care.

She said they tend to work with children with especially complex cases. This can mean there are multiple family members interested in custody, or there’s a history of abuse or neglect.

Volunteers communicate with all parties, including the child, get to know everyone, and can make recommendations to the court. If they feel there are gaps in services or needs that aren’t being met, those are included in their written reports.

For these children, Laspino said having a dedicated adult who is volunteering to help the child can have a great impact.

“The universal need that CASA fulfills in every case is that of a consistent and compassionate adult who chooses to be a part of that child’s life,” she said. “I think that because our advocates are volunteers, that can be really meaningful for children, specifically some of our older youth who understand what it means to make the choice to be a volunteer and continue to show up.”

The CASA website said they’ve served 1,109 children, dedicated 108,304 hours, driven 613,406 miles, and trained 539 volunteers between the two counties.

Laspino said CASA volunteers can maintain contact after the court gives a termination order if all parties — the child, the family, and the volunteer — are comfortable. She said this has happened more in Lancaster due to the organization’s longer history in the county.

All volunteers go through information sessions, interviews, background checks, and several days of hybrid training.

It takes a certain commitment, she said. Most volunteers are either retired or have full-time jobs with flexibility. They’re matched with the children based on their preferences, and if they take on a case, they’re expected to remain with them until they are placed in their permanent home.

“All of them are just exceptional humans because they kind of step out of their life, and they look at the community, and they see a whole population of children who need a positive adult volunteer presence,” she said. ”I think you have to be willing to make the long-term commitment and know the positive impact that you’re going to have on a child and want to be that person.”

Jeff Burroughs is one of the Lebanon County volunteers. He’s from Cornwall but recently moved to Maryland, and he drives several hours each way to meet with his child.

He said he has a long history of helping people and spent 13 years as a volunteer firefighter EMT.

“I also came from the product of a very good upbringing and a very good home, and to me, that was always important,” Burroughs said. “So I always thought it might be nice to somehow be able to kind of give back, and I was never quite sure how to go about doing that, but when I came across CASA, that seemed like a nice way to take a good family upbringing and try to give back a little bit.”

He said his background as a firefighter gave him some skills, but he said he has learned a lot about how to be effective as an advocate through his training and experience.

CASA offers the necessary training and continued resources to its volunteers. Burroughs said it makes it accessible for anyone interested in helping.

“What you need to have is a desire to help, the desire to try and make a difference, then the rest just happens along the way,” he said. “Don’t overthink it if you’ve got a desire. Take a look and get involved and try and understand the program itself, and come out and help.”