Frank P. Cervone
Philadelphia, PA
Support Center for Child Advocates (Retired)
University of Pennsylvania
Villanova University School of Law
Frank P. Cervone is the Executive Director of the Support Center for Child Advocates (Child Advocates), the pro bono lawyer program for abused and neglected children in Philadelphia. Prior to his work at Child Advocates, Frank was a Staff Attorney at Delaware County Legal Assistance Association and Adjunct Clinical Professor at Villanova University School of Law, where he instructed law students in domestic-abuse and child-support litigation. He previously served as counsel for Saint Gabriel's System, an agency providing treatment services for juvenile offenders.
He is a founder and co-director of the National Children’s Law Network, former chair of the Board of the Children’s Trust Fund of Pennsylvania, former chair of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation Task Force on Children, and served as a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Procedural Rules Committee. In 2006-7 Mr. Cervone served as a member of the Mayor’s Child Welfare Review Panel examining the Philadelphia child welfare system. Mr. Cervone lectures and trains both lay and professional audiences in child abuse and child advocacy.
He received the Legal Intelligencer Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, the American Bar Association Mark Hardin Award for Child Welfare Legal Scholarship and Systems Change in 2014, the Philadelphia Business Journal Most Admired CEO Award in 2015 and numerous other local and national awards. Frank is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova University School of Law and has a Masters Degree in Theology and Ministry from LaSalle University.
