Learning center

We offer continuing education opportunities for all volunteers, ambassadors, and supporters through webinars and workshops, along with in-person and virtual training

All CASA volunteers are invited to join us for a special online “Ask the Judge” event featuring Judge Gavin I. Handwerker on Monday, August 18 at 5:30pm.

Overview to the New Jersey Early Intervention System (NJEIS)

CASA volunteers are invited to join us on ZOOM on Wednesday, September 10 from 6-7:30pm for an online training that will provide an Overview to the New Jersey Early Intervention System (NJEIS) presented by Karen Loaiza, Family Support Coordinator Family Link-REIC.

Volunteers will learn:

  • How to recognize developmental red flags using the cdc developmental milestones and understand eligibility for NJEIS services.

  • The process of referral, evaluation, services offered, and how NJEIS focuses on each child by creating an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).

  • How to support families and ensure children in foster care receive timely developmental screenings and services.

RSVP to annie@casapassaicunion.org.

Creating Authentic Relationships with Birth Parents

CASA volunteers are invited to join us on ZOOM on Wednesday, October 8 from 6-7:30pm for a virtual training on Creating Authentic Relationships with Birth Parents presented by Davetta Ford, State Coordinator, Safe Babies Court Team and Marian Golan, Ph.D, Advocacy Supervisor, CASA. Volunteers will learn how to establish rapport with birth parents through continuous non-threatening conversations, which can assist in presenting the court with valuable information. The presenters will share examples of real experiences that they've had while interacting with birth parents.
RSVP to annie@casapassaicunion.org.

The Anatomy of a Fact-Finding Hearing

CASA volunteers are invited to join us at the Wayne office on Wednesday, October 22 from 6-8pm for an in-person training on The Anatomy of a Fact-finding Hearing presented by Ed Marable. Volunteers will learn more about the hearing wherein a court determines whether a child has been abused/neglected, in the legal sense. RSVP to annie@casapassaicunion.org.

Effects of DV on Children

CASA volunteers are invited to join us on ZOOM on Tuesday, November 18 from 12-2pm for a virtual presentation discussing the Behavioral and Emotional Impact Witnessing Domestic Violence Has on Children, presented by Ryan Borchardt, Program Assistant, A Partnership for Change.

Volunteers will learn:

  • How to understand and recognize abusive and victimized parent behaviors.

  • About Safety Planning and ways to support children witnessing DV at home.

RSVP to annie@casapassaicunion.org.

CASAs Connected — A Monthly Roundtable Series

February's Advocate Roundtable at the Union County home of a CASA volunteer was well-attended and full of robust conversations. It's such a great way for advocates to connect, we're expanding the roundtables from predetermined topics to an open space for all the experiences, questions, and considerations that are top of mind for you.

Advocacy Supervisors will still facilitate discussions and look forward to seeing you there to talk about all the things! Here's the scoop on March and April roundtable opportunities to connect ... in our CASAs Connected, Monthly Roundtable Series! RSVP to annie@casapassaicunion.org.

September 15 from 6-7pm on Zoom

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. September highlights include:

  • Infant Mental Health — September 3 from 10am to 12pm
    Join Emily Lawton, MSEd of Montclair State University’s Center for Autism and Childhood Mental Health as she shares information about infant brain development, the need for babies to have attachments to stable, caring caregivers, and the profound impacts of neglect on infant mental health.

  • Practical ACE’s — September 10 from 10am to 12pm
    Practical ACEs is a training that gives an overview of ACEs, explains how the brain responds to repeated traumatic experiences in childhood, and provides strategies to respond to people experiencing dysregulation.

  • History of Race in Child Welfare — September 17 from 10am to 12pm
    Racial equity is a core value within the CASA network, and we are committed to ensuring that our advocates, board, and staff recognize the policies and practices that contribute to the disproportionate representation of children of color within the foster care system.

Check the training calendar for more details, upcoming months and to RSVP!

CASA College archives

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