Celebrating New Volunteer Advocates in Lancaster County

On Wednesday, October 30, CASA of Lancaster and Lebanon Counties celebrated the swearing in of ten new Court Appointed Special Advocates. CASA staff, board members, volunteers, and community supporters gathered in the Imperial Blue Room of the Holiday Inn Lancaster as The Honorable Shawn P. McLaughlin swore in the new class of volunteers. The evening was the culmination of 30 plus hours of training completed by each volunteer in order to assist children in Lancaster and Lebanon County's foster care systems.

New Court Appointed Special Advocates include: Yvonne Bernard of Lancaster, Kathleen Clark of Lancaster, Fiona Eagleson of Lancaster, Amanda Fletcher of Palmyra, Sheila Hallman of Columbia, Karen Madeira of Lancaster, Amanda Pudenz of Lancaster, Kari Ann Umholtz of Palmyra, Mikayla Wagaman of Lititz, and Charity Welch of Willow Street.

A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer is a trained citizen who is appointed by a judge to represent the best interest of a child in court. The children that CASA volunteers advocate for have been abused and neglected and placed in to the foster care system. CASA volunteers work to help ensure a safe and permanent home for the child as quickly as possible. A CASA volunteer is an extension of the "eyes and ears" of the judge. Most importantly, the CASA volunteer speaks with the child and others involved in the child's life such as biological parents, foster parents, social workers, teachers, doctors and therapists.

This is the 46th class of CASAs sworn in in Lancaster County. These new CASAs will join the 92 active CASAs currently advocating for 163 children in Lancaster and Lebanon counties. CASA hopes to eventually be able to provide a volunteer to every child in need and these 10 new volunteers will help the organization come closer to this goal.

If you are interested in learning more about CASA and what volunteer advocates do, please sign up to attend an information session. Becoming a CASA Virtual Information Sessions will be held Tuesday, November 12, 5:30-6:30 pm, and Monday, December 9, 5:30-6:30 pm. Learn more and register for either session by visiting www.casalancleb.org/volunteer or calling 717- 286-1430.

Photo caption:

Pictured from left to right, front row: Mikayla Wagaman, Sheila Hallman; Left to right, middle row: Kari Ann Umholtz, Amanda Pudenz, Amanda Fletcher, Charity Welch, Kathleen Clark, Yvonne Bernard, Karen Madeira, and Fiona Eagleson. Back row: The Honorable Shawn P. McLaughlin