Advocate Center

Continuing Education for Advocates

All Advocates must complete 12 hours of Continuing Education each Program year to remain active as a volunteer. Continuing Education ensures that Advocates have the latest information needed for advocacy work, including updates on services, programs, policies, legislation, and best practices. The subject matter of the training should relate to your role as an Advocate. Child Advocates of Montgomery County offers several options throughout the year to complete training requirements within the organization, including in-person and virtual classes facilitated by staff or community partners. Advocates can also access online training offered by Texas CASA through CASA College.

Events Calendar

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.

Training Type

Articles

Time to read article

Articles in magazines, journals, newspapers, and online publications. Credit is the number of minutes spent reading the article with a maximum of 1 hour per article. Note: maximum of 4 hours of independent reading per year, combined between articles and books.

Training log in Optima should include the title of the publication and the article along with a brief summary of the content.
Books

Time to Read Article

1 to 4 hours based on length of the book. Earn 30 minutes for every 50 pages. Note: maximum of 4 hours of independent reading per year, combined between articles and books.

Training log in Optima should include the book’s title and the author’s name along with a brief summary of the content.
Movies and Videos

Length of program

Length of the movie or video. Note: maximum of 2 hours for a movie or video.

Training log in Optima should include the program’s title along with a brief summary of the content.
TV Shows

Length of program

Length of the television show or series. Note: maximum of 2 hours for a single show with a maximum of 4 hours for a series or documentary.

Training log in Optima should include the program’s title along with a brief summary of the content.
Online Training Module or Webinar

Length of Module

Length of module for training offered by Child Advocates of Montgomery County, National CASA/GAL, or Texas CASA. This includes classes offered on CASA College. Volunteers should use the recommended credit if provided by the trainer.

Length of module for training offered outside of the organization. Note: maximum of 4 hours.
Conference

Length of Conference

Length of conference minus breaks and lunch for conferences offered by Child Advocates of Montgomery County, National CASA/GAL, or Texas CASA. Volunteers should use the recommended credit if provided by the organization.

Length of conference minus breaks and lunch for events offered outside of the organization. Note: maximum of 4 hours.
Classes

Length of Class

Length of class minus breaks for training offered by Child Advocates of Montgomery County, National CASA/GAL, or Texas CASA. Volunteers should use the recommended credit if provided by the organization.

Length of class minus breaks for training offered outside of the organization. Note: maximum of 4 hours.
Advocate Groups

Length of meeting

Length of meeting. Note: maximum of 2 hours per meeting.

This includes advocate groups such as Book Club, Men of CASA, or Advocate Support Group meetings.
Field Trips

Time at Location

2 to 4 hours, depending on time spent at the location. This includes informational visits to learn more about placement resources, such as rehabilitation facilities, youth-serving organizations, and other community partners.
Staff Training

Length of Training

Length of training. This training includes Advocate group trainings, both online and in-person, offered by Child Advocates staff such as lunch-and-learns or classes. This can also include one-on-one training that Advocates complete with their Advocacy Specialist, such as Optima training or training related to their case or advocacy.