About this Training Series:
MCASA's Sexual Assault Victim Advocate Fundamentals Training Series is an online training for advocates who work directly with sexual assault survivors in Maryland. This training series covers foundational topics and best practices for advocates in the field of sexual assault services. This training is designed to prepare new advocates for their work with survivors of sexual violence, including child sexual abuse, intimate partner sexual violence, human trafficking, and more.
Live training sessions will occur on weekdays from September 8th - 19th, 2025. Training sessions include 10 live morning sessions (one session per weekday) and 2 live afternoon skills-building labs (one lab per week). MCASA and Sexual Assault Legal Institute (SALI) staff and guest speakers will facilitate each session.
This training program also includes self-paced learning modules which cover a variety of foundational topics.
Live Training & Lab Schedule
WEEK 1
September 8th
- Morning Training Session: Crisis Intervention & Advocacy (10am - 11:45am)
September 9th
- Morning Training Session: The Intersection Between Intimate Partner Violence & Sexual Assault (10am - 12pm)
September 10th
- Morning Training Session: The Intersection Between Human Trafficking & Sexual Assault (10am - 11:45am)
- Afternoon Skills-Building Lab: Empowering Survivors (2pm - 3:15pm)
September 11th
- Morning Training Session: The Neurobiology of Trauma (10am - 11:45am)
September 12th
- Morning Training Session: Money Matters: Financial Empowerment for Survivors of Sexual Assault (10am - 11:45am)
WEEK 2
September 15th
- Morning Training Session: Maryland's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative: Victim Notification Protocol (10am - 11:45am)
September 16th
- Morning Training Session: Professional Ethics, Vicarious Trauma, & Self-Care for Advocates (10am - 11:45am)
September 17th
- Morning Training Session: Serving Sexual Assault Survivors from Underserved Populations (10am - 11:30am)
- Afternoon Skills-Building Lab: Safety Planning (2pm - 3:15pm)
September 18th
- Morning Training Session: Confidentiality, Ethics, & Legal Options for Survivors of Sexual Assault (10am - 11:45am)
September 19th
- Morning Training Session: The Roles of a Sexual Assault Response Team (with Q&A) (10am - 12pm)
Registration & Training Information:
- Registration for this training is free and open to all advocates and service providers.
- You only need to register once to attend all or as many of the sessions as you would like.
- The Morning Training Sessions will be recorded and made available to registrants after each training session.
- The Afternoon Skills-Building Labs won't be recorded. Participation is strongly encouraged; we suggest having your camera on and communicating with your fellow learners.
Certificates of Attendance & CEUs:
- Social Work CEUs and Certificates of Attendance may be requested until October 17, 2025, via the Certificate Request Form that will be shared after each training session.
- CEU hours are subject to change based on the length of each training.
- After October 17th, we won't be accepting anymore requests for CEUs or Certificates of Attendance for the training sessions and labs.
- You may continue watching the recorded training sessions after October 17th.
