MEDIA— CASA Youth Advocates Inc. announced the appointment of Leigh Anne McKelvey, Executive Director of CASA Youth Advocates Inc. to the Suburban Leadership Council of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Association for Children.
Serving a two-year term, McKelvey, along with child welfare leaders from across the nation, will play an integral role in voicing the unique needs of more than 950 local programs that make up the National CASA/GAL network. In 2019, the National CASA/GAL network, with its approximately 93,300 volunteers, served more than 271,000 children who have experienced abuse and neglect. With more than 400,000 children in foster care on any given day, the leadership council will focus its efforts on ensuring that the network achieves its mission of serving all children through best-interest advocacy.
“The Leadership Councils are a vital part of our initiatives to serve more children in the foster care system, while continually improving their outcomes,” said Tara Perry, chief executive officer of National CASA/GAL Association for Children. “We are thankful to have Leigh Anne share her expertise as we seek to move our mission and vision forward on behalf of all children who have experienced abuse or neglect.”
McKelvey was appointed executive director of CASA in 2018. She has been with the organization since 2007, previously serving as assistant executive director. From the beginning of her career, McKelvey has been involved with different CASA organizations in in some capacity, dedicating over 16 years of service under the CASA model. She earned her Master’s of Social Work with a certificate in child welfare from the University of Pittsburgh and brings a unique perspective to her role as the sibling of two younger sisters adopted from the child welfare system.
CASA works to ensure that each child in Delaware and Chester counties’ child welfare systems lives well, achieves academic excellence, and experiences the joys of childhood by providing them with trained volunteer advocates who speak for their best interests with support and guidance from CASA’s professional staff of social workers and attorneys. CASA has been serving Delaware County’s children since 1992 and expanded its services to Chester County’s children in 2015. For more information, go to www.nationalcasagal.org
Aqua PA employees help deliver masks
Aqua Pennsylvania helped to deliver 68,000 masks provided by FEMA, through PA WARN, to other area water utilities in southeastern Pennsylvania on May 7. In addition to the Chester Water Authority and the Philadelphia Water Department deliveries, several Montgomery County water systems picked up their masks from Aqua’s Eastern Operations Division in Montgomery County.
Aqua Control Center Operations Manager Jim McGinley, a PA WARN board member who represents WARN’s region 6 — which mirrors the state Department of Environmental Protection’s region 6 — volunteered Aqua to help with mask deliveries throughout the region.
“Water and wastewater utilities are key to everyone’s ability to survive this pandemic.,” McGinley said. “We were glad to be given the opportunity to help other utilities keep their workers safe so they can continue to provide these essential services to their customers, just as we do.”
Aqua’s Materials Management Manager Jeff Feeney delivered masks to PWD’s material management team in Philadelphia and to Chester Water Authority staff in Chester.
“We are always willing to help our neighboring water utilities, but it is especially true in these unprecedented times,” remarked Aqua Pennsylvania President Marc Lucca.
Andrew Hicks Foundation distributes laptops to Chester families
The Andrew Hicks Foundation will be picking up 55 laptop computers on Wednesday, May 13, at TeamChildren world headquarters in Audubon to distribute to families in the city of Chester. TeamChildren and The Hicks foundation have been partnering together for the past five weeks and have now distributed over 200 laptops to area children in need.
Robert Toporek, president and founder of TeamChildren, has been at the forefront of TeamChildren for 23 years. With little to no real funding or staff, Toporek, a decorated Vietnam Veteran, has spearheaded the distribution of over 19,000 low-cost high quality refurbished laptops and desktops to families, schools and organizations throughout the region and as far as Kenya. Each computer comes loaded with Windows 10 Pro, a free office suite of programs and over $500 worth of learning software and links. For more information, visit Teamchildren.org/.
Havertown attorney appointed PA Bar Ethics Committee to offer pandemic advice
Havertown-based attorney Daniel Siegel has been appointed Ethics Committee chair to provide ethical guidance to assist lawyers during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Named chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Siegel will lead the committee which will provide ethical guidance to lawyers in Pennsylvania. The committee’s advice is often relevant nationwide and cited by attorneys throughout the country.
Siegel is known nationally for his expertise on the intersection of technology and legal ethics. He is the principal author of many of the Committee’s ethical guidance opinions that have been cited as authoritative resources, including “Ethical Obligations For Lawyers Working Remotely,” which was issued in April 2020 to provide guidance to Pennsylvania attorneys about how to handle their practices during the pandemic. The opinion has been widely cited and is regarded as the premier ethical guidance for lawyers working remotely.
Because of his expertise on legal ethics and technology, Siegel has presented and is scheduled to present numerous lectures to various bar associations and organizations since the COVID-19 pandemic began. He recently lectured to the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Delaware County Bar Association about “Getting the Best Out of Your Computer – At Home, At the Office and Everywhere Else” and to members of the Delaware County Bar Association about “How to Work Remotely, Securely and Ethically in a Time of COVID-19.”
Upcoming lectures include: May 14, American Bar Association, “Working Remotely: Ethical Considerations During and After COVID-19;” May 21, Pennsylvania Bar Association – “The Ethics of Working Remotely;” June 1, Celesq: “How Technology Can Ethically Unite the Legal Community During Emergencies;” June 15, CLEwebinars.com – “Working Remotely: Ethical Considerations During & After COVID-19.”
Siegel is the principal of the Law Offices of Daniel J. Siegel, LLC, a regional general practice law firm. The attorney focuses his practice on workers’ compensation, personal injury, ethics, techno-ethics and professional responsibility, and appellate writing. He received his law degree from Temple University in 1984 and his bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College in 1981. He is the elected 4th Ward Commissioner in Haverford.
Readers can email community news and photos to Peg DeGrassa at [email protected].
