Learning center
We offer continuing education opportunities for all volunteers, ambassadors, and supporters through webinars and workshops, along with in-person and virtual training
Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Virtual Training
CASA volunteers are invited to join us on ZOOM on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 from 12-2pm for a virtual training on how to Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) presented by the NJ Dept of Human Services, Division of Mental Health and Addictions Services.
Volunteers will learn:
About the impact of suicide in America
How to identify signs and symptoms of suicide and crisis
How to respond and about tools that provide steps for treatment and support
Know and Tell - Preventing, recognizing, and reporting child abuse
CASA volunteers are invited to join us from 1-3:30pm on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at the Elizabeth Office, OR from 6-8:30pm on Monday, June 8, 2026 at the Wayne Office, for Know and Tell training, presented by the New Jersey Children’s Alliance. This interactive training aims to provide participants with the knowledge and confidence needed to protect and help a child victimized by abuse and/or neglect get the appropriate support.
Volunteers will learn:
About the legal definitions of neglect, physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, and the NJ state laws on reporting.
How to recognize signs of child abuse as well as warning signs of grooming and online danger.
About steps that adults can take to keep children safe from abuse.
How to recognize the barriers to reporting, and how to overcome them.
When and how to make a report to the Child Abuse Hotline (State Central Registry.)
How the child protection system in NJ – including Child Advocacy Centers, Multidisciplinary Teams, and other stakeholders – work together to respond to child abuse.
Virtual training courses for NJ CASA volunteers, available online through Traliant:
Courtroom Procedures
The Effects of Trauma On A Child's Developing Brain
Opioid Addiction
Individual Education Plans and the Special Education System
Educational Advocacy
Child Development During the Early Years
CASA Medical Advocacy
Access to Traliant requires a login and password. If you're not sure how to log in, please contact Annie at annie@casapassaicunion.org.
CASA of NJ CASA College
CASA of New Jersey’s CASA College regularly has virtual training classes available for all advocates.
Check the training calendar for more details, upcoming months and to RSVP!
CASA College archives
Book Club: Educated by Tara Westover.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. Join us for one of the discussion dates below to receive 3 hours of in-service credit:
Wednesday, February 25 at 6pm, Child Focus Wayne Office, 415 Hamburg Tpk, Wayne
Wednesday, March 4 at 6pm, Linden Free Library (Bedrick Room), 31 E Henry St, Linden
Learning resources
CASA 101
For Kids
How To Write A Court Report
Court Report Template
Book Review
Form
In-service
Review Form
National CASA/GAL Association 2023 Archived Webinars
This catalog features a series of webinars hosted by the National CASA/GAL Association for Children throughout 2023. Topics include:
Tips and Technology: CASA/GAL Witness Testimony
Advancing Education Rights, and Addressing Barriers for Students in Care
Understanding Relationships and Their Importance to Early Childhood Development
Mental Health Essentials Part One: Foundations of Mental Health
Mental Health Essentials Part Two: Strategies to Support & Promote Mental Health
Through the Eyes of the Child: Exploring Protective Factors and Supporting Resiliency
On-Demand Training on Problematic Sexual Behavior (PSB) in Children and Adolescents
Understanding and Serving Children with PSBs (2-hours, 3 minutes)
NOTE: You must register for the training. You will then receive a link to the recording. You cannot close out of the training once you begin it. If you close out of the training before completing the short quiz at the end, you will need to contact katherine@njcainc.org to send you a link so that you may resume the training where you left off.
Training series on working with children and youth with PSB (four x 30-minute modules)
Overview of PSBs
Special Considerations for CACs
Treatment Response
Community Engagement
NOTE: You must create a login to view the free training series. Use code 15462 for the organizational ID when creating your account.
Understanding and Serving Adolescents with PSBs (2-hours, 44 minutes)
NOTE: You must register for the training. You will then receive a link to the recording. You cannot close out of the training once you begin it. If you close out of the training before completing the short quiz at the end, you will need to contact katherine@njcainc.org to send you a link so that you may resume the training where you left off.
Perceptions and Practices of CACs and their Community Partners in Serving Children and Adolescents with Problematic Sexual Behavior (90 minutes)
NOTE: You must create a login to view the free training series. Use code 15462 for the organizational ID when creating your account.
Training Series from OneOp, Problematic Sexual Behavior of Children and Youth (PSB-CY): Clinical Assessment and Treatment
This training series provides professional development for clinically assessing, responding to, and treating PSB-CY. These courses were created from evidence-based best practices and focus on youth between the ages of 9 and 14 with problematic sexual behaviors (PSB).
Clinical Assessment of Children and Youth with PSB (90 minutes)
Caregiver Engagement in Assessment and Treatment (90 minutes)
Clinical Decision-making and Treatment Planning (90 minutes)
Monitoring, Safety Planning, Supervision, and Treatment Progress (90 minutes)
NOTE: You must create a login to view the free training series. This series recommends seven prerequisite webinars. Five are included above. The content of the remaining two is covered in the first webinar, Understanding and Serving Children with PSB.
Engaging families with youth with problematic sexual behaviors in mental health services (105 minutes)
NOTE: You must create a login to view the free training series. Use code 15462 for the organizational ID when creating your account.
Training Series from OneOp, Sexual Behavior in Children and Youth
This training series addresses normal sexual behavior in children in addition to exploring cautionary and problematic sexual behavior (PSB) that children may display. Various factors associated with children’s sexual behavior are identified in order to assist clinicians in understanding the appropriate assessment and disclosure processes involved when problematic symptoms are present.
Culturally Competent Responses to Youth with Problematic Sexual Behavior (90 minutes)
Supporting Youth to Set Healthy Boundaries with Technology (90 minutes)
Considering the Adolescent Brain When Addressing Problematic Sexual Behavior of Youth (90 minutes)
Talking with Youth about Sex, Sexuality, and Media (90 minutes)
Modeling Healthy Technology Behaviors for Young Children (90 minutes)
NOTE: You must create a login to view the free training series.
Additional training and resources
Fact Sheets & White Papers
Media suggestions for additional reading, watching and listening
To receive In-Service credit after reading/watching/listening, please complete the Book Review Form or In-Service Review form above and send it to your Advocacy Supervisor; then enter the In-Service hours directly on the Training page in Optima.
Books
“The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband” by David Finch
“Three Little Words: A Memoir” by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
“A Beautiful Boy” by David Sheff
“Tweak: Growing Up on Amphetamines” by Nic Sheff
“The Leavers” by Lisa Ko
“Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery” by Catherine Gildiner
“What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing” by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry
“Bright Burning Things” by Lisa Harding
“This is All I Got” by Lauren Sandler
“The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog” by Bruce D. Perry
“Demon Copperheard” by Barbara Kingsolver
Movies/Documentaries
“Maid,” 2021
"Paper Tigers," 2015
“Instant Family,” 2018
“They Have Names”, a documentary film by AZCentral and The Arizona Republic that follows five families navigating Arizona's child welfare system, highlighting the human stories behind the numbers
Podcasts
NPR’s Fresh Air, “The Neuroscience of Addiction”
NPR, The Connection Between Early Childhood Experiences and Long Term Health
NPR, Adverse Childhood Experience Study
NPR, How Childhood Trauma Affects Adult Health