Advocate Center

Program Year

The Program year begins on Sept. 1 and ends on Aug. 31 of the following year. Training hours are listed in Optima under your volunteer profile. Look for the Training tab. Advocacy Specialists can provide an update of training hours remaining for their Advocates, too.

Methods of training

The 12 hours can be earned through a variety of delivery methods, including:

• Weekly Drip learning via text (must click on links)
• Workshops and classes
• Webinars and videos
• TV shows and movies
• Articles and books
• Podcasts
• CASA College

CASA College

CASA College offers e-learning courses and other online training materials. It allows volunteers to access trainings and resources online, when and where you need them, on any type of computer of mobile device.

If you are a new user, you will need to sign up here. This is a one-time process to set up your username and password. If you have already created an account in the system, you can continue the e-learning experience at any time, logging in using your username and password.

CASA College

Training Logs

All training, except for Drip learning, must be logged into Optima by the volunteer. Drip learning is entered by Child Advocates staff on a quarterly basis.

Advocates will write in the Note section of the Training log the specific details of the class, webinar, podcast/show/movie, or book/article.

Advocates will choose a Training Topic when logging the session into Optima. All trainings fall under one of nine core topics. As you log the completed training activity, choose which topic best fits your training. There may be overlap (and more than one good choice), so please use your best judgment. Below are the core topics:

• Background and Needs of Children Served: infants, GIFT program, fatherhood, internet safety, ECI, advocating for young adults/teens, domestic violence
• Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE): family finding, connection tools, how to build a mobility map
• Court and Child Welfare System: kinship, ICWA, Holley Factors, how to testify, anatomy of a home study, PCA, adoption
• Cultural Competence and Diversity: CASA and the clergy, serving LGBTQ youth, biases and stereotypes, meeting youth and family where they are
• Educational: 504 or ARD meeting, dyslexia or autism awareness, Student Success Advocates, GOAL program, educational surrogate
• Guiding Principles: Optima, confidentiality, advocate minimum expectations, advocate policies
• Juvenile – Justice-Involved Youth (JIY): JIY or court observation, JDC, JJAEP
• Nature and Effects of Child Abuse/Neglect: TBRI®, ACEs, CTI Conference, books or podcasts on trauma, Youth Mental Health First Aid
• Strengthening Core Advocacy: advocate support gatherings, safety advocacy, CASA College courses.

If you complete a training that doesn’t seem to have an intuitive topic, please log it under Guiding Principles or ask your Advocacy Specialist for direction.

Credits

The information below outlines the amount of credit that can be earned for different kinds of training options. Please note that some trainings include a maximum time allowed. This includes independent reading and trainings offered by organizations outside of Child Advocates of Montgomery County, National CASA/GAL Association, or Texas CASA.

If you have a question about whether a training will qualify for credit, please discuss with Julie Brown or your Advocacy Specialist.