Mary Kay Pivovarnik, Executive Director at CASA of Luzerne County, right, and Brennan Morell, CASA Program Director, address te new volunteer advocates prior to their swearing in. the new advocates are, from left: Deidra Lamont, Leslie Hunsinger, Carin Ives, Patricia Rogers, and John Mertz. Evene Estwick was sworn in through a virtual hook-up.
                                 Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

CASA of Luzerne County holds swearing in ceremony for 6 new advocates

WILKES-BARRE — Mary Kay Pivovarnik, executive director at CASA of Luzerne County, said the six new volunteer advocates sworn in Monday worked hard during training and are ready to begin their advocacy.

“Our organization is thankful to the people in the community who step up to be the voice for these children,” Pivovarnik said.

CASA — Court Appointed Special Advocates — of Luzerne County, is a nonprofit organization committed to training and supporting volunteers to serve as the voice of abused and neglected children in the Luzerne County court system.

Judge Jennifer L. Rogers, Administrative Judge of Family Court and Dependency Court, presided over the swearing in ceremony where the volunteer CASA advocates took an oath to represent the best interest of children who are in the dependency court system in Luzerne County.

“This brings our number of advocates to 58, serving 67 children,” Pivovarnik said. “We have had 47 children we advocated for to achieve permanency this year which is over double the amount who received permanency in 2021 — and 21 of those children were reunified with their parents, 16 were adopted and 10 achieved permanency in another safe and stable environment.”

Pivovarnik said there are more than 500 children in the dependency court system and CASA is actively recruiting advocates.

“Our spring training will begin at the beginning of March 2023,” Pivovarnik said. “We will be hosting multiple information sessions prior to that.”

Pivovarnik said information can be found on the CASA website at — luzernecasa.org — or by calling the office at 570-855-2247.

The six individuals sworn in Monday are: Evene Estwick, Leslie Hunsinger, Carin Ives, Deidra Lamont, John Mertz and CASA of Luzerne County Advocate Coordinator Patricia Rogers.

Judge Rogers told the new advocates that they will be the child’s voice in court.

“As you develop your relationships with the children, you will go on a journey,” Judge Rogers said. “The tiniest gesture will mean a great deal to a child. A smile, a tear, a listening ear, a word of encouragement will go a long way.”

The group completed 36 hours of training over a nine-week period to learn about a variety of topics that are the root causes of child abuse and neglect which lead to children and families involvement in the dependency court system. This training has prepared them to advocate for the best interest of a child or sibling group whom they will be assigned.

Pivovarnik said a volunteer CASA advocate is often the one constant a child has through the life of the case.

“They can be the voice of the child or help the child find their own voice,” Pivovarnik said. “They have ability to see the case as a whole and learn about the child, the family and the community in the process. A CASA advocate is a person who can build resiliency in a child who suffered trauma and this resiliency will help the child cope throughout their lives.”

Pivovarnik said children who have had CASA advocates are less likely to re-enter the dependency court system and achieve permanency through either reunification or adoption faster than children who have not had a CASA advocate.

Following the swearing in ceremony, CASA now has 58 volunteer advocates serving 67 children with additional children waiting for advocates.

Pivovarnik said qualified, compassionate Court Appointed Special Advocates offer abused and neglected foster children the one thing they don’t have — the undivided attention of a caring adult.

She said the volunteer advocates independently assess each child’s situation and dedicate themselves to learning all they can about a child’s unique history and experiences. They then make informed recommendations to the Luzerne County Dependency Judges as to what permanent placement would be best for that particular child, and what immediate services the child needs, whether it be educational, social, mental health, physical health or cultural.

For more information

CASA of Luzerne County

Cross Valley Center

667 South River St., Plains Twp., PA 18705

570-855-2247