Continuing Education

National CASA Association and Lake County CASA standards require each CASA volunteer to receive 12 hours of continuing education annually after the first year of pre-service training.

Attend one of the many workshops or programs scheduled throughout the year at the CASA office. Meet other advocates and Advocate Managers and enjoy our unique CASA community. Programs are delivered by guest speakers and CASA staff and are offered during the day and in the evening. 

Examples of in-house CASA continuing education include:

  • Workshops – Delivered by guest speakers or staff, CASA Lake County presents regular opportunities to learn about interesting topics which equip and enrich advocates for their work. Examples of programs offered in the past include:
    • DCFS Investigator Panel
    • Understanding Trauma and Related Therapies, Medications
    • Child Brain Development
    • Understanding Attachment
    • The Legal Stages of Child Welfare Cases – and CASA’s role
    • A Caseworker’s Perspective
    • Understanding Gangs (Waukegan Gang Task Force)
    • An Adult Perspective – survivor of childhood abuse
    • Panel of Former CASA Teens
  • Mentor Meetings – Advocates and Managers get together as a group and talk freely about their cases. They swap ideas, blow off steam, brainstorm, and gain others’ experience and perspective.
  • Book Club – Meets quarterly to share thoughts and impressions of a book relevant to our work.
  • Movie Night – Advocates gather as a community to view and discuss a relevant movie.
  • Teen Meetings – These gatherings inform and support advocates of teens regarding the unique challenges and opportunities of their cases.

Advocate Continuing Education can also be earned individually:

  • Webinars and other local non-CASA workshops – CASA Lake County often forwards information about opportunities to advocates. Advocates can also find programs on their own.
  • Individual Study – Advocates can earn CEUs through individual study of topics relevant to their case (e.g. mental illness, addictions, diagnoses, etc.), or simply relevant to CASA work generally. For example:
    • Books
    • Movies, TV shows, documentaries
    • Professional certification or community education classes