ADVOCATE RESOURCES
E-LEARNING
PRE-SERVICE TRAINING
Visit our Pre-Service Training Resources page for more information about signing up for the E-Learning Training course.
CURRENT ADVOCATES
CASA College Login – Already have an account? Login here!
*Remember to “save & exit” after each lesson to make sure that your progress is saved!
IN-SERVICE TRAININGS
View available in-service events on our calendar. Remember to document all in-service hours in Optima! Need a refresher? View our Optima Training.
OPTIMA RESOURCES
Related resources
- View National CASA’s Advocacy Resources for additional topics and resources relevant to your advocacy.
- Visit Texas CASA’s Learning Center Resources for Volunteers archives to explore topics relevant to your work as a volunteer.
- Nominate A CASA Instructions
- Child Mind Institute – The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. Our teams work every day to deliver the highest standards of care, advance the science of the developing brain and empower parents, professionals and policymakers to support children when and where they need it most.
TEXAS CASA – COLLABORATIVE FAMILY ENGAGEMENT
STRESS, TRAUMA & ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
- National Child Traumatic Stress Network
- Secondary Traumatic Stress
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
- How severe, ongoing stress can affect a child’s brain
- The Body Remembers
- Treating Childhood Trauma – Oprah Winfrey
- Relational Trauma and Traumawise Care – understanding how relational trauma impacts the whole child – Dr. David Cross
LOCAL RESOURCES & MENTAL HEALTH
- Texas Mental Health Guide
- Mental Health – Innovative Alternatives Brochure English, Spanish
- Victim Assistance Program
- Social Emotional Learning – Communities in Schools Research Brief
- On the Road Lending Program Information – English Brochure, Spanish Brochure
- HHSC’s Medical Transportation Program Information
PARENTING & PHYSICAL HEALTH
- Helping Through Intervention and Prevention (HIP) Program Brochure
- Helping Through Intervention Website
- Healthy Texas Women
- Teen Health Center
- NPR – Why do Children in Foster Care Become Pregnant at a Much Higher Rate
DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES
- CPS Rights of Children and Youth in Foster Care
- Ombudsman Foster Care Facility Flyer
- 28 Ways to Help CPS – Faith Based Unit
- Kinship Manual
- Child Protective Services Handbook
- Minimum Standards for Child Placing Agencies
- Foster and Adoptive Home (FAD) Resource Guide
- Placement Process Resource Guide
DRUG & ALCOHOL ADVOCACY RESOURCES
AGING OUT
EDUCATION
- Foster Care & Student Success
- Educational Advocacy Guidebook (2018 Update)
STRESS, TRAUMA & ADVERSE CHILD EXPERIENCES
- Nadine Burke Harris TED Talk
- Texas Victim Assistance Training (TVAT) – This training will provide the necessary tools for providing consistent and appropriate services to crime victims and how to work collaboratively with partner agencies.
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Safety Training – Read up on how to help prevent cyber bullying, sexting and other types of risky online behavior in children and teens. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has provided a website to help educate adults and children on these risks. You may count research as continuing education credit.
- Building Trauma-Informed Services for Children, Youth, and Parents Impacted by Domestic Violence – This is a 10-part recorded webinar series that can be accessed at any time. Topics include: Children and Domestic Violence, Caring for Others While Caring for Ourselves, Children Grow in the Context of Their Relationships, Understanding Children’s Responses to DV and Other Trauma, Responding to the Needs of Children and Families Impacted by DV, Engaging and Supporting Parents
- TBRI An Overview: Putting the Pieces Together – This short video explains the principles and concepts behind Trust-Based Relational Intervention®, a proven method for enriching the lives of at-risk, vulnerable children, adolescents, and their families. Trauma can impair language, sensory processing, and coping skills, and can lead to perplexing behaviors that are often mistaken for aggression or mental illness. This video features world-renowned experts who share research that documents how consistently positive experiences with loving caregivers can re-wire a child’s brain for lasting change. Learn more at http://child.tcu.edu.
- CASA College e-Learning Trauma-Informed Advocacy for Children and Youth in Foster Care – click this link and login using your CASA College credentials.
MENTAL HEALTH
- Everything you know about addiction is wrong – TED Talk – What really causes addiction? How can we overcome it? Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail first hand and began to wonder why we treat addicts the way we do.
- DFPS Psychotropic Medication Training – This training explains Child Protective Services’ expectations for the safe and effective use of psychotropic medications by children in DFPS conservatorship. This training will help you to understand the expectations and policies regarding medications administered to children.
BOOKS TO READ
- Recommended Reading List – view a list of books that we recommend for in-service training hours
EDUCATION
- Disability and Education Trainings by the Arc of Greater Houston
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
- Be The One – Human trafficking is a media buzz word that often conjures images of brothels in Thailand or confusion with the ongoing immigration debate. This innovative digital training tool cuts through the confusion, arms the viewer with an understanding of what human trafficking is and is not, and helps them recognize that this is a Texas problem with Texas buyers, sellers, and victims. Most of all, it challenges Texans to change the culture in which we live from one that identifies with and honors perpetrators to one that provides safety, security, and genuine reintegration for the survivors of trafficking.
FOSTER CARE
- Josh Shipp TED Talk
- Podcast: Engaging Youth in Foster Care – As youth in care begin to develop their own sense of self and independence, you may experience difficulty engaging them to participate in their case plans or helping them realize the impacts their decisions may have on their long-term future.
- National Reunification Month: Innovative Practices to Promote Unification – This webinar highlights innovative programs and strategies that support reunification and emphasize caregiver and parent voice. Presenters feature parents and caregivers involved in innovative programs to illustrate how parent engagement leads to better outcomes for placement and reunification.