Current Issues for Child Advocates 2026 – Camp Hill

Marisa K. McClellan is a seasoned legal professional and accomplished administrator with a distinguished career spanning over two decades. She represents clients in custody, divorce, and adoption matters and serves as court-appointed counsel and Guardian ad Litem in parental rights cases. Before joining Tucker Arensberg as Senior Counsel, Marisa served as the Administrator at Dauphin County Children and Youth. In this role, Marisa oversaw a staff of approximately 200 employees across multiple departments, including child welfare case management, fiscal operations, legal operations, and program management. She managed an annual $55 million budget and ensured compliance with Pennsylvania child welfare regulations, fostering a safe and supportive environment for children and families in the Capital Region. Marisa’s dedication to public service is evident through her extensive leadership roles and collaborative efforts, including the establishment of innovative programs such as specialized housing for youth with special needs and multi-agency task force teams addressing mental health and substance use issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she spearheaded policy adaptations that ensured the safety of children, families, and staff. Previously, Marisa served as Senior Staff Attorney for Dauphin County Children and Youth, where she led litigation efforts in dependency court, orphans’ court, and administrative law hearings. Her experience spans juvenile law, child abuse and neglect, family law, and compliance with state and federal regulations. She also supervised legal teams, conducted extensive training, and contributed to statewide child welfare initiatives. Marisa’s commitment to the legal and child welfare communities is reflected in her affiliations with several boards and organizations, including the Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administrators Association, the National Association of County Human Services Administrators, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association, where she co-chairs the Children’s Rights Committee. She has also been recognized with awards such as the 2017 Pennsylvania Child Advocate of the Year.

Mr. Welshonce is an attorney at KidsVoice, a non-profit organization that provides legal representation to abused, neglected and at-risk children.  At KidsVoice, he has served as a staff attorney representing children in dependency cases and as the legal training coordinator for the organization. He is currently a supervisor overseeing a dependency team and a specialty team which works with transition age youth (TAY) through age 24, many of whom have aged out of foster care and have few supports.  That team offers  a wide range of services to provide a safety net and help remove barriers to stable employment, housing and health for TAY, including: legal representation in summary and landlord-tenant hearings in Magisterial District Court; expungement of delinquency and adult criminal records; assistance for TAY with disabilities with obtaining Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and benefits from Allegheny County’s Office of Developmental Supports and Office of Behavioral Health; workforce development support; representation of TAY in insurance grievances/appeals when they have been denied necessary medical, dental or mental health treatment; assistance for TAY who have been victims of identity theft or have other credit issues; and advocacy for TAY who are parenting and their children through the team’s Two-Generation program to ensure that TAY and their children have access to all available supports, including housing, childcare and early intervention services.  Mr. Welshonce is a member of several organizations and committees focused on children’s issues in the child welfare system, including Allegheny County’s Older Youth Workgroup.  Mr. Welshonce received his B.A. from West Virginia Wesleyan College and his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Ms. Lawrence has served as the Juvenile Court Hearing Officer for Cumberland County since December 2013. Prior to her current position, she was the Managing Attorney for the Law Offices of Women In Need, a civil legal representation project focused on representing victims of domestic violence. Following her graduation from the University of Denver College of Law, she was the Director of Public Interest Programming and a clinical instructor in the Children’s Advocacy Clinic for the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law. She maintained an adjunct teaching position for several years as a writing instructor for a supplemental bar examination preparation workshop. Ms. Lawrence was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Scholarship Award, a public interest scholarship program through the University of Denver College of Law. She has presented as faculty for CLEs through the Cumberland County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, and the American Bar Association. She long served as the Chair of the Cumberland County Bar Association’s Pro Bono Section and was previously appointed to the National Advisory Committee for Equal Justice Works. She is currently active on the Cumberland County Children’s Roundtable, participating in the Congregate Care, School Attendance, and Independent Living workgroups. She serves on the Cumberland County Court Appointed Special Advocate Advisory Panel and the National CASA Judicial Leadership Council. Currently, she serves as co- chair of the PBA Children’s Rights Committee. She has been a member of the statewide Juvenile Court Hearing Officer Workgroup, the AOPC Congregate Care Workgroup, the Statewide Children’s Roundtable, and the Autism and the Dependency Courts Taskforce. In 2022, Ms. Lawrence was honored as a recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Samuel W. Milkes Award for service to improve access to justice and earlier this year, she received the Cumberland County Bar Association’s George E. Hoffer Service to Youth Award.

Judge Bush has served in the Family Division of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas since 2014. Previously she practiced child welfare law for approximately 20 years. During that time, she represented individual children in juvenile court, supervised attorneys who represented abused and neglected children, consulted to Pennsylvania counties, trained hundreds of social workers and worked collaboratively on the state and local levels with government agencies, child advocates and providers of services. Judge Bush’s previous positions have included work with Pennsylvania’s Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network, KidsVoice, Juvenile Law Center, the ABA Center on Children and the Law, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Judge Bush holds her law degree from Yale Law School and a Master’s Degree in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management. 

Heather Paterno is the Lead Staff Attorney for Dauphin County Social Services for Children and Youth. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Business Communications from Bentley College and earned her Juris Doctorate from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University. Upon graduation, Heather practiced commercial litigation and family law for almost 18 years at Goldberg Katzman, P.C., where she focused her practice on children’s issues, becoming the first court-appointed guardian ad litem for custody actions and paving the way for the now common practice. From 2015-2024, Heather was a court-appointed guardian ad litem in Dependency where she represented hundreds of children subject to the child welfare system. Heather has served as a Dauphin County Custody Conference Officer, Arbitration Panel Chair, Adjunct Professor of Paralegal Studies at Harrisburg Area Community College, authored three children’s books, and has served on numerous local boards supporting child protection, growth, and opportunity. Prior to assuming her current role with CYS, Heather clerked for the Honorable Courtney K. Powell.

Stephanie Lubert is a Managing Attorney within HIAS Pennsylvania’s Litigation & Advocacy Division. Since joining the agency in 2015, Stephanie’s practice focus has been legal services for immigrant youth with a special emphasis on youth in the domestic child welfare system. Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJS), asylum, U Visas, T Visas, and removal defense make up the bulk of Stephanie’s practice. Additionally, Stephanie moderates the PA SIJS Working Group listserv that serves as a forum for Pennsylvania practitioners to share resources and best practices in obtaining SIJS findings in state court. Prior to joining HIAS PA, Stephanie was a staff attorney with the Crime Victims Law Project where she represented survivors of domestic violence across Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. Stephanie is a 2013 graduate of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.

Samantha Tamburro is a graduate of Duquesne University Kline School of Law and holds a Master of Science in Global Leadership from Duquesne University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management (International Business) from Point Park University. She serves as an adjunct professor at Duquesne University Kline School of Law, teaching Immigration Law. She is fluent in South American Spanish, proficient in American Sign Language, and has studied basic Japanese. Samantha regularly presents on immigration law and the collateral consequences immigrants face in family and criminal matters. She volunteers with unaccompanied minors through organizations including Holy Family Institute.

Genna Carrington serves as a Dependency Mediator handling complex child welfare matters in Allegheny County. She has mediated over 200 dependency cases, including SPLC modifications and highly contentious open dependency matters, contributing to significant docket relief and durable, court-ready resolutions. Her work centers on structured mediation in cases requiring interagency coordination, disciplined process management, and child-focused negotiation. She collaborates closely with the bench, CYF, and counsel to facilitate efficient case movement while safeguarding the best interests of children. Genna brings a data-informed, trauma-aware approach to resolving entrenched conflict and advancing sustainable outcomes in dependency practice

Nora DiBuono is Solicitor for Lawrence County Children and Youth Services. Before this position, she was an instructor at Butler County Community College and an Assistant County Prosecutor. She is a graduate of Cleveland State University – Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, J.D., and Notre Dame College of Ohio, B.A.

Alyssa has a BA degree in International Relations from Duquesne University and a JD degree from Duquesne University School of Law. Upon graduation, Alyssa was awarded the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Outstanding Student Award and was recognized for her pro bono service. Alyssa joined KidsVoice in 2018 and after a brief hiatus returned in 2023 with two years of prior family law experience.

Annmarie Pinarski (she/her) is a Supervising Attorney at Women’s Law Project. Annmarie supports all of WLP’s legal work, with special focus on workplace discrimination and equality and reproductive justice. Prior to joining the Women’s Law Project, Annmarie spent twenty years as union-side labor and employment attorney with a New Jersey law firm, where she represented labor unions and workers in individual representation, collective bargaining, and labor organizing. She previously clerked for United States Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith in the Southern District of New York and United State District Judge William J. Martini in the District of New Jersey. Annmarie received her law degree from Rutgers Law School – Newark, where she was an articles editor for the Rutgers Law Review and a Marsha Wenk Public Interest Fellow. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Detroit, and graduate degrees in English from Bowling Green State University.

Alexandra Dolan is a social worker, advocate, project manager, and educator. She is currently serves as the Outcomes in Behavioral Health Training Coordinator for the Support Center for Child Advocates where she manages multiple training initiatives, creates and delivers training curricula, plans and promotes events, and collaborates across disciplines and geographic regions to improve advocacy for children. She is also an Adjunt Professor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law. She earned her MSS in Social Work from Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research and her Bachelor’s degree in Theology and Gender Studies from the University of Notre Dame.