Continuing Education | Voicesforchildren

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CASA VOLUNTEERS

At Voices for Children, we believe informed advocates are empowered advocates. As a CASA volunteer, you're required to complete at least 12 hours of continuing education each year. We’re here to make that easy with a range of in-person opportunities, self-paced courses, and multimedia options that help deepen your knowledge and sharpen your advocacy skills. Your Learning. Your Way.

Detailed continuing education updates are emailed to current volunteers. If you're not receiving them, contact CJ Spencer to be added to the list.

In-Person Training
Our recurring sessions offer consistent opportunities to learn and connect with your fellow volunteers.

Note: Dates and times may change based on presenter availability.

CASA Café

Date: Tuesday, May 13

Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Topic: Mental and Educational Needs of Children Affected by Child Abuse and Neglect

Presenters: Dr. Marcia Montague, Clinical Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at TAMU, and Carmen Mota, LPC

Book Club (Coordinated by Tara Ward, Advocate Supervisor)
Date: Tuesday, May 20
Time: 5:45 PM – 7:00 PM
Book: The Child Catcher by Andrew Bridge

Contact Tara Ward for information.

Pre-Service Training Series

This eight-part series provides the foundational knowledge every CASA volunteer needs before taking a case. Pre-Service Training is mandatory for new Advocates and is a supplemental training for existing CASA volunteers.

Dates: June 2 – June 12
Time: 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Sessions:

Session 1: The CASA/GAL Volunteer Role
Session 2: The Well-Being of the Child
Session 3: Trauma, Resilience, and Communication Skills
Session 4: Mental Health, Poverty, and Confidentiality
Session 5: Substance Abuse and Different Backgrounds and Experiences
Session 6: Domestic Violence, Values and Perceptions
Session 7: Educational Advocacy and Supporting Older Youth
Session 8: Moving Forward as an Advocate and Court Report Writing

On-Demand Learning

Online Training Resources

Learn at Your Own Pace - Access online platforms and training resources anytime. Click the titles below to access training resources.

Podcasts (Auditory Learning)

CASA on the Go

Continuing Education for CASA Volunteers

Child Welfare Information Gateway

This podcast series, produced on behalf of the Children's Bureau, presents a series of interviews and group conversations intended to provide beneficial information for busy child welfare and social work professionals. The podcasts cover a wide range of topics and provide perspectives from communities served by child welfare agencies, along with tips and stories from professionals about implementing new services and programs, working across agencies, and improving practice.

Aged Out: The Stories that Built Us

This podcast by the SMU Child Advocacy Clinic was created to raise awareness regarding the child welfare system while giving youth who aged out a voice to transform it.

reFRAMED podcast

Presented by the Gladney Center for Adoption, this podcast is created to educate, encourage, and inspire parents and professionals who have a love for children and want to meet their needs. Each episode has a special guest who is an expert in their field. Listen to real conversations about how to reframe parenting skills, expectations, and practices from traditional parenting into mindful parenting.

Working with Teens, Episode 9

From the podcast on Crimes Against Women, domestic violence affects 1-in-3 women in the United States. While we have come to understand that forms of intimate partner violence can range from the physical to the lesser recognized forms of verbal, financial, and spiritual abuse, the impact of any form of domestic violence on children in the household is sometimes overlooked. Jordyn Lawson, senior director of Residential Services at Genesis Women's Shelter & Support discusses the impact, specifically among teens, and how domestic violence can disrupt their home life, physical, and cognitive development.

Expert On: Domestic Violence

From the Crime Junkie podcast, Ashley Bendiksen discusses her story of survival, what signs to watch out for and how to safely leave a toxic relationship. Ashley Bendiksen is an acclaimed survivor speaker and award-winning activist, speaking and training nationally on the topics of domestic violence, teen dating violence, sexual assault, and bystander intervention.

Films & Documentaries (Visual Learning Resources)

Short Term 12 (Amazon Prime and more)

This movie explores the lives of at-risk teens in a foster care facility, focusing on one youth’s struggles as they near aging out of the system, as seen through the eyes of their supervisor.

UnAdopted

This short documentary explores what happens to teenagers in foster care as they approach the point of "aging out" of the system.

The Social Dilemma (Netflix)

This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.

All Rise: For the Good of the Children

This 75-minute documentary takes you inside the courtroom of an unconventional East Texas judge who uses a trauma-informed, trust-based approach to healing broken families in the child welfare system. Two families share how they transformed their lives through the support and intervention of Judge Carole Creek and her team of lawyers, mental-health experts, and child advocates.

Right to Fail

This PBS/Frontline documentary examines the challenges and risks to people with severe mental illness who are moved from adult homes into apartments.

The Fosters (Hulu, Amazon)

This fictional series is about two women and their adopted, biological, and foster children.