Lebanon County commissioners hear overview of child advocacy nonprofit

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

Before she became a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) employee, Erin Small was a volunteer who worked with abused and neglected children who needed a trusted adult in their lives. 

And although the end goal was to always achieve a resolution that was in the best interest of the child in her care, saying goodbye was never easy.

“It is one of the challenges of the role, I will tell you,” said Small, a former high school teacher, said during a workshop session of the Lebanon County Commissioners on Wednesday, April 1. “One of the things that was really great about being a volunteer for me was that I had just that one (child) that I could focus on (as opposed to many in a classroom), and really be able to have that intentional way to advocate for them and feel like I was making more of a difference.”

Small said volunteers do “absolutely” become attached to the children because “you have built very strong connections.” Small, a work colleague, and a Lebanon County-based CASA board member gave a program overview to commissioners and county administrator Jamie Wolgemuth during the public session.

“My first case ended up lasting a little over three years. She was 14 when I started working with her, and then signed herself out of care as soon as she turned 18. So yeah, that was a loss. I still know what she’s doing in her daily life. We keep in contact on social media. But yeah, it is one of the roles,” she added. 

Small, who is now a training and recruitment coordinator with CASA of Lancaster and Lebanon Counties, said volunteers undergo 30 hours of training with an emphasis on establishing and maintaining boundaries. CASA is a nonprofit organization completely funded by private donations.

“One of the things that we have to remember is what brings us to the table and it is that objectivity. And so just reminding yourself all the time that we are there to be really, you know, taking all of the people that are in this child’s life and being able to listen to each of them and bring that to the table,” Small said. “I think it is a really good way to sort of balance that and not get too attached.”

Maintaining the vision of the end goal by setting and maintaining those boundaries are key. 

“If you just keep reminding yourself you are there to support them and advocate for their best interest, then that helps kind of delineate those boundaries. We talk a lot about boundaries during training, too,” Small added. “That is a lot of where we go with the training and we really define what the role is. We are not a Big Brother, Big Sister organization.”

In working to change a child’s life story, getting them into a safe, nurturing, and permanent home is core to the work they do.

“We really try to maintain that we are there to be an advocate for this child. And yes, there are elements of mentorship that goes into that, but it’s not the same kind of personal relationship that you might see in some other (advocacy) roles,” Small added. 

Colleague Kristin Antrim, CASA program specialist, agreed about the role an adult volunteer plays in a child’s life through this initiative.

“The role that our volunteers play really is as a community member who brings a common sense and objective perspective to a case where a child has been abused or neglected,” Antrim said. “We operate under what we call best interest advocacy. So our whole role of what we are paying attention to is the child, what are their needs and what is in their best interest.”

CASA is an advocate for children in the courtroom, Antrim added.

“It’s a little unique that some of the other legal parties that might be involved in a court case involving a child are Children and Youth (Services),” Antrim said. “Their legal mandate is to work towards reunification. And while that is often what we also believe is in their best interest, there are times when (we) differ in that understanding. And so that gives an additional voice and just an additional perspective that is then represented in the courtroom. And the focus is on the child.”

Small said CASA was founded in 1977. 

“It started in Seattle with a dependency court judge who had seen a need in his courtroom for someone else to be a voice for a child. He had felt that many of the children that came before him in his hearings or in his courtroom who were in a very traumatic experience and through no fault of their own had found themselves there. And he thought that volunteers would be a good source of people who could speak for that child.”

Today, there are more than 900 programs across the country that support children in foster care. The local chapter was founded in 2010 in Lancaster County, and Lebanon County was added in 2019 when it was noticed there was an unfulfilled need.

“Several of our volunteers were Lebanon residents and had asked why we are not serving cases in Lebanon County. And we recognized that Lebanon County would be a smaller program (because of a) smaller court system than Lancaster County and perhaps might not be able to maintain their own CASA group on their own,” Small said.

Antrim noted there are currently 26 children in Lebanon County being served by 19 active advocates. 

Lebanon County CASA board member Jeremy Stahl said there’s room for more local adult volunteers to be a positive force in the lives of children who need a helping hand.

“I’m a big investment guy and children are our biggest investment in any community. So I may be a little biased because my mother spent 30 years working for Children and Youth right here,” Stahl said.  

Antrim noted how research has shown how critical it is for these children to have a consistent and trusted influence in their lives.

A brochure provided to the press states that children who are assigned to a CASA volunteer are more likely to find a safe, permanent home, more likely to succeed in school, and half as likely to re-enter the foster care system than those who are not in the care of a CASA volunteer.

“One of the things that we know from the research about children who have been impacted by trauma is that one of the top protective factors for children is having a consistent trusted adult in their life,” Antrim said. “And so CASA is serving that need for the child, where there might be some other changes. They (children) might have a change in placement. They might have a change in caseworker. But hopefully, CASA (provides) that trusted adult throughout their time in care.” 

If you go

A Lebanon Community Awareness Happy Hour will be held on Thursday, April 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Iron Valley Golf Club, 201 Iron Valley Drive, Lebanon for residents to learn more about CASA. Representatives will discuss the vital work they do to advocate for children in Lebanon County who have experienced abuse and neglect. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served, and all attendees will receive a drink ticket during the event.