The Center for Excellence in Advocacy (CEA) believes that every child deserves a strong advocate. Through training, professional development, and systemic advocacy we work to improve the outcomes of children and families, especially those involved in the child welfare system, by improving the practice of those who work with them.
Our Training Topics
Through years of direct service, Child Advocates has become a subject matter expert in child welfare and advocacy, with notable expertise in training lawyers representing children and families. The Center for Excellence in Advocacy builds off this expertise to develop and deliver multidisciplinary trainings to lawyers, judges, court administrators, social workers, educators, healthcare providers, and other professional and lay caregivers.
CEA is an approved provider of Pennsylvania CEU and CLE credits. Please contact Meghan Johnson at mjohnson@sccalaw.org or Allie Dolan at adolan@sccalaw.org for more information on any of the trainings/topic areas below, or to explore ways that we can meet your training needs.
Vicarious Trauma and Burn Out: Strategies for Professional Preservation
Defines trauma exposure responses including vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout, and identifies self-care strategies and organizational practices that help improve practice and support staff and volunteers.
Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse in Pennsylvania
This training meets the Act 31 training requirement for Mandated Reporters.
Best Practices for Trauma-Informed Advocacy
Introduces foundations of trauma information and provides advocacy strategies to promote resilience and recovery among clients.
Being Prepared and Feeling Confident at Court: Advancing Positive Outcomes for Children
Provides an overview of the Dependency Court and/or Family Court system and identifies strategies to improve testimony at court and advocacy for clients.
Human Trafficking: Prevention, Assessment, Advocacy
Identifies the warning signs of human trafficking and actions to take when trafficking is suspected; provides strategies for both intervention and prevention to keep children safe from trafficking.
Beyond Trauma: Advocacy for Resilience
Ideal for audiences who are already knowledgeable about trauma, examines research about what helps make youth resilient and identifies best practices for advocating for the supports, services, resources, and opportunities that children need to be resilient.
Behavioral Health Advocacy
Provides strategies for discussing behavioral health care with families, helping clients access appropriate behavioral health services, and overcoming obstacles to treatment. Includes information regarding best practices when child clients are prescribed psychotropic medication.
Best Practices for Representation and Permanency Planning for Child Sexual Abuse Cases
Ideal for child welfare professionals and attorneys, provides enhanced skill and sensitivities for advocating for children who have experienced sexual abuse.
Upcoming Trainings
How to Use Child Advocates Online
This course will teach you the basics of Child Advocates Online, such as searching for courses, exploring learning paths, and starting a course.
Click HERE to go to this course.
The 2021 Children Docket Brown Bag Training Series
The Support Center for Child Advocates, Center for Excellence in Advocacy is pleased to publish The 2021 Children’s Docket Brown Bag Series for <i>Child Advocates</i> Volunteer Attorneys on <i>Child Advocates</i> Online. These sessions are specifically designed for <i>Child Advocates</i> Volunteer Attorneys and are meant to provide more detailed information about the ins and outs of handling a case as a Volunteer.
Click HERE to go to the recordings.
Developing Structural Competency in the Legal Representation of Children
In this course, Dr. Sharrelle Barber, ScD, MPH of the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health will define structural competency and why it is relevant to child welfare practice; describe how structural racism plays out across systems and effects child well-being and provide specific examples of its direct impact on child and family outcomes, including increased risk of involvement in the child welfare system; and discuss how a structural lens can inform the work of Child Advocates and provide strategies to support representation based on the lens of structural competence. This is part 1 of a 2 part series, “Structural Racism for Child Advocates Volunteer Attorneys.”
Click HERE to go to the recording.