Swarthmoreans Can Make a Difference Through CASA Youth Advocates
Tayler Moots
I’m craving positivity and good news these days. I’m looking for people who are helpers as our world faces so many challenges and crises. I’m fortunate that, each day, I go to work at CASA Youth Advocates and am surrounded by helpers. Five of them, Karlie Bisordi, Ruth Bock, Katie Leubecker, Ursula Rouse, and Lydia Nansanja, live in Swarthmore. They come from very different professional backgrounds, but each has made a commitment to helping local youth who have experienced abuse and neglect and are involved in the child welfare system.
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. As special advocates, our job is to make sure children in Delaware and Chester counties who have experienced abuse or neglect can be safe, have a permanent home and enjoy a bright future.
CASA Youth Advocates trains and supports community members to be champions for children—no previous experience or expertise required). Volunteers function as the “eyes and ears” of the court and, just as importantly, become consistent caring adults in the lives of children, many of whom experience a revolving door of guardians coming in and out of their lives. Some days, a volunteer might bring a birthday gift to a child at their foster home, other days they might meet with a child’s teacher or testify in court. Many volunteers regularly share that being a CASA is the most meaningful work they have ever done.
“My mom has always told me the entire ocean is affected by a pebble,” says Ms. Leubecker. “In my volunteer work with CASA, I’ve found that just my constant presence (even if in the background on occasion)—all the while being there for a child and supporting her—can actually be enough. When so many others have come and gone in her life so far, I’m doing what I can to show her that she is not alone.”
CASA Youth Advocates is looking for individuals who can commit to volunteering for 10 to 12 hours per month for at least one year, to be a champion for a child. (More than half of our volunteers have a full-time job in addition to their volunteer work.) CASA matches each volunteer with a staff supervisor who is a social worker or attorney. CASA’s paid staff members support our volunteers each step of the way.
You can learn more or sign up to attend an information session by visiting the CASA website, or by emailing me at tmoots@delcocasa.org. If being a CASA advocate isn’t the best fit for you, CASA has other volunteer opportunities that can enable you to get involved and make a difference.
Tayler Moots is the Development and Communications Manager at CASA Youth Advocates and also serves as an advocate for three youths in foster care.
