CASA celebrates child advocates in Fayette
Volunteers work to make sure foster children\'s needs are being met
Throughout Pennsylvania, groups of volunteers are working to make sure foster children’s needs are being met as they go through the court system.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Kids of Washington and Fayette Counties held a celebration in Connellsville Monday in advance of Wednesday’s statewide CASA Day.
In 2024-25, more than 1,000 CASA volunteers in programs across 32 counties in the state helped advocate for children who were removed from homes where they were abused or neglected.
The advocate serves as “an extra set of eyes and ears” for a judge in more complicated dependency cases, such as multiple children or multiple concerns, such as a special needs child who’s suffered severe abuse or neglect, said Kelley Swift, executive director of CASA in Fayette.
“A CASA only works with one child or one sibling group at a time, which really is the benefit of a CASA,” Swift said. “So a community member who’s doing this not because they’re paid, but because they have a heart for their community and the children they’re in, and the time to devote just to make sure their needs are not falling through the cracks of an overburdened child welfare system.”
They ask the volunteer for a two-year commitment — and hopefully longer if the child’s case is still unresolved by then, Swift said. That could look like reuniting with their parent, being placed under the permanent legal custodianship of a relative, or an adoptive home.
The advocate will meet with the child once a month where they live to make sure their needs are being met. They also get access to records to check on the child’s educational needs, medical needs, mental health needs, or drug and alcohol issues.
Advocates will present their findings to a judge, and also make recommendations for the best course of action.
“There’s a misconception that once a child’s removed from a harmful situation, that their needs are going to be met,” Swift said. “That’s just not the reality. Sometimes, in a really overburdened system, those finite needs for a child need someone to keep track of them and be a squeaky wheel to make sure that they’re met.”
Over the past year, 70 people have volunteered at some point in Fayette and Washington counties.
Right now, Fayette County only has two active advocates. Five people have expressed interest in the next training session, which starts in September, Swift said.
Potential trainees have to fill out an application, interview with staff, and go through 35 hours of training.
“We have about three cases of 10 children total that are ready to be assigned as soon as we get volunteers equipped,” Swift said.
There are about 180 dependent children in the Fayette County system right now, Swift said. While they would love to be able to serve all of them, the “modest goals” are to be able to serve 20 within the next year, Swift said.
Mark Barrett is looking to make the leap. The Chalk Hill resident plans to start training as a advocate in September. He’s worked with children all his life, spending many years as a teacher in a depressed area of Southern California.
From his teaching days, Barrett knows that if a child in his class starts struggling, it was often due to a family situation. As advocate, he can help address the problem.
“If I can help get a kid to feel secure, security is No. 1,” he said. “Then you can start from there and learn and develop a personality, that type of thing. That’s what I hope to do.”
The newest member of the team was sworn in earlier Monday afternoon. Chris Spahr will now serve as supervisor of Fayette County’s CASA program. He’d gone the traditional route after law school, handling personal injury and wrongful death cases in Florida, but wasn’t fulfilled.
Through CASA, he gets to make sure kids’ needs are being satisfied in a way his weren’t growing up — not just the basics like food and shelter, but having someone there to celebrate your birthday.
“It’s nice to see that there are people there to actually advocate to make sure that not only are you getting your basic needs met, but actually being given things to be able to enjoy your life as well,” he said. “So it’s been very fulfilling so far, and I’m excited to take the next step now that I’m sworn in.”
At the state level, CASA is working to secure funding and support for communities to open up new programs, while also doing quality assurance to make sure the existing programs have the tools and resources they need, said Rebecca Matchett, director of impact for CASA in Pennsylvania. She was part of the team that helped develop Fayette County’s program in 2019.
“To be able to come today really was meaningful for me on a personal level because I’ve been here since it first started, but also from PA CASA’s lens, really being able to see a program that’s had so much community support being able to to grow in the way that we’ve seen it since Kelley’s been able to step in and really support the community,” she said.