MEDIA, PA — CASA Youth Advocates received a $50,000 grant from United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey to expand its core advocacy program in Delaware and Chester Counties, where demand left 32 children in the child welfare system waiting for an assigned advocate at the end of 2025.
The funding will support recruitment, training, and supervision of volunteer advocates, along with the case-management infrastructure used to coordinate services for children involved in the child welfare system.
CASA served 322 children across 217 cases in 2025, but demand exceeded the organization’s capacity. The United Way funding is intended to help narrow that gap by increasing access to trained advocates.
Judges appoint CASA volunteers to work individually with children as they navigate the court, child welfare, education, and healthcare systems. Advocates coordinate with caseworkers, educators, healthcare providers, caregivers, and community organizations to connect children with services for which they are eligible.
Those services can include safe placements, healthcare and mental health treatment, educational accommodations and public benefits.
“Every child in the foster and child welfare systems deserves someone who will keep showing up, listen closely and make sure their needs do not get lost between systems,” Executive Director Leigh Anne McKelvey said. She said the grant would strengthen CASA’s ability to recruit, train and support advocates.
CASA volunteers also served as Educational Decision Makers for 164 children in 2025, working on school placements, special education services and continuity in education.
The organization reported that 98% of the children under 18 it served in 2025 achieved a permanent outcome.
Founded in 1992, CASA Youth Advocates serves Delaware and Chester Counties through court-appointed advocacy for children and youth involved in the child welfare system.
More information is available at delcocasa.org.
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