Continuing Education Resources
Stay current with best practices in child advocacy through our continuing education programs, including monthly meetings, workshops, and specialized training sessions.
Continuing Education Requirements
You need 12 hours per calendar year. Only 4 hours can come from books and movies.
Your hours will be prorated for your first year based on your certification date.
Remember to record your hours in Optima or submit to your supervisor.
Other CE Resources
Upcoming Events
Resources: Self-Study Library
Browse our self‑study library, access webinars, podcasts, articles, books, and more to help you fulfill your 12‑hour annual CE requirement. Stay up to date and let us know when you need help!
Articles
2022 Criminal Justice Research Findings from the Vera Institute
2022 Criminal Justice Research Findings from the Vera Institute The Vera Institute of Justice, an independent nonprofit national research and policy organization hired by Justice Matters, recently presented…
Webinars
2024 Annual Review with Judge Klepper & Danielle Packer
2024 Annual Review with Judge Klepper & Danielle Packer The Citizen Review Board and Douglas County CASA submitted questions for Judge Paul Klepper and panel attorney Danielle Packer…
Books
A Placed Called Home
A Placed Called Home A Place Called Home is both David’s powerful personal account through the lens of a child surviving it daily. And as the go-to child…
ADD/ADHD | What Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
Others ADD/ADHD | What Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? Here’s everything you need to know about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. Thomas E. Brown, PhD, discusses…
Podcasts
Addressing Poverty to Keep Families Together with Sarah Winograd
Addressing Poverty to Keep Families Together with Sarah Winograd Sarah Winograd’s journey as a “professional volunteer” led to the realization that poverty was a driving factor in the…
Articles
ADHD and Complex Trauma
ADHD and Complex Trauma The Inattentive, Impulsive and Hyperactive Child: Is Childhood Trauma Buried Amongst ADHD? Read online
Articles
America’s boys and men are falling behind… mentoring can help
America’s boys and men are falling behind… mentoring can help An excellent new article in the Wall Street Journal by Rachel Wolfe has drawn new attention to the…
Podcasts
Anatomy of Doubt from “This American Life”
Anatomy of Doubt from “This American Life” A story about doubt: how it germinated, spread, and eventually took hold of an entire community, with terrible consequences. A collaboration…
Articles
Are ACEs as Determinative as We Think?
Are ACEs as Determinative as We Think? From “Psychotherapy Networker”, two trauma experts weigh in on connection, community and the tyranny of diagnosis. Read here
Articles
Article Summary for “However Kindly Intentioned”
Article Summary for “However Kindly Intentioned” Link to the full article can be found here. Read it here
Movies
Beautiful Boy
Beautiful Boy Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse,…
Books
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates A book-length letter from Ta-Nehisi Coates to his son, Samori. In it, Coates explains to Samori what it means to…
Webinars
Building Hope for Family Healing and Recovery
Building Hope for Family Healing and Recovery Building Hope for Family Healing and Recovery – National Center for Substance Abuse and Child Welfare This webinar introduced the National…
Podcasts
CASA on the Go Podcast
CASA on the Go Podcast Provided by Texas CASA, this continuing education podcast connects CASA volunteers with engaging and relevant training designed to help strengthen advocacy for children…
Podcasts
Caught with Kai Wright, WNYCS Studios Podcast
Caught with Kai Wright, WNYCS Studios Podcast All kids make mistakes. But depending on your zip code, race, or just bad luck, those mistakes can have a lasting…
Podcasts
Changing the Face of Foster Care, Children’s Bureau Podcast
Changing the Face of Foster Care, Children’s Bureau Podcast How can child welfare agencies, Federal partners, judicial and legal entities, and community organizations shift both the perception and…
Movies
Congratulations, You’re On Your Own: Life After Foster Care
Congratulations, You’re On Your Own: Life After Foster Care Through telling their stories and by hearing from professionals in the field, the film explains how children enter the…
Creative Resilience: Using Expressive Arts to Support Clinicians, Social Workers, and Educators
Creative Resilience: Using Expressive Arts to Support Clinicians, Social Workers, and Educators June 11 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Burnout is real—and for those in helping roles, it’s…
Webinars
Disproportionality and Poverty
Disproportionality and Poverty Poverty intersects with other social determinants, such as racism and classism, creating structural vulnerabilities and evidence indicates impoverished children are disproportionality affected by maltreatment. Poverty,…
Movies
Dopesick
Dopesick The story of how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history. Look into the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from a distressed…
Books
Dopesick by Beth Macy
Dopesick by Beth Macy Chronicles America’s more than twenty-year struggle with opioid addiction, from the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, through the spread of addiction in distressed communities…
Books
Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Evicted by Matthew Desmond In Evicted, Princeton sociologist and MacArthur “Genius” Matthew Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they each struggle to keep a roof over their…
Movies
Extraordinary Attorney Woo
Extraordinary Attorney Woo Brilliant attorney Woo Young-woo tackles challenges in the courtroom and beyond as a newbie at a top law firm and a woman on the autism…
Movies
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Oskar is convinced that his father, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has left a message for him…
Webinars
Foster Village Lawrence
Foster Village Lawrence Learn more about Village Lawrence, a new non-profit supporting relative and foster homes in Lawrence and the surrounding communities Youtube Video
Podcasts
Getting Curious podcast: Who Does America’s Child Welfare System Serve?
Getting Curious podcast: Who Does America’s Child Welfare System Serve? Each year, more than 250,000 children in America are removed from their families by judicial means—and more than…
Books
Hope’s Boy by Andrew Bridge
Hope’s Boy by Andrew Bridge From the moment he was born, Andrew Bridge and his mother Hope shared a love so deep that it felt like nothing else…
Books
How To Be An Antiracist: A Memoir by Ibram X. Kendi
How To Be An Antiracist: A Memoir by Ibram X. Kendi Despite the nature of its title, Kendi has gifted us with a book that is not only…
How to Work with Courts: Testifying in Court (part 2)
How to Work with Courts: Testifying in Court (part 2) June 24 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Hosted by the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration, this webinar series…
Books
How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones
How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones In powerful poetry and prose, Saeed Jones recounts his experiences growing up as a young, black, gay…
Articles
However Kindly Intentioned: Structural Racism and CASA
However Kindly Intentioned: Structural Racism and CASA Published by the City University of New York Law Review, this article explores CASA and systemic racism. You can find a…
Movies
I Am Jazz
I Am Jazz Although assigned male at birth, Jazz is a transgender female and has been living as a girl since kindergarten. Jazz’s family has stood side-by-side with…
Books
I’m Possible: A Story of Survival, a Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream by Richard Antoine White
I’m Possible: A Story of Survival, a Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream by Richard Antoine White From the streets of Baltimore to the halls…
ICWA Active Efforts Support Toolkit
Others ICWA Active Efforts Support Toolkit The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Active Efforts Support Toolkit (IAST) was developed by the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child…
Webinars
ICWA for CASA Volunteers in Kansas
ICWA for CASA Volunteers in Kansas This presentation about the history, purpose, and application of the Indian Child Welfare Act for CASA Volunteers in Kansas was recorded in…
Podcasts
IEP Meeting Tips for Kids of Color
IEP Meeting Tips for Kids of Color Meeting with the school to plan your child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) can be intimidating. This is true for any parent…
Books
In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado This memoir, which tells the story of Machado’s abusive relationship with another woman, is an act of personal and formal…
Webinars
Institute of Child Psychology Webinars
Institute of Child Psychology Webinars The Institute of Child Psychology was founded to educate parents and professionals on issues pertaining to children’s mental health, and to promote the…
Articles
It’s Time to Stop Confusing Poverty With Neglect
It’s Time to Stop Confusing Poverty With Neglect If we truly care about children and families, it’s time to stop confusing poverty with neglect and devote ourselves to…
Movies
Joe Bell
Joe Bell The true story of a small town, working class father who embarks on a solo walk across the U.S. to crusade against bullying after his son…
Movies
Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom
Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom The story of Juneteenth highlights how hope has endured from 1865 to today. In doing so, it paints an important picture of freedom and…
Webinars
Kansas Children’s Service League’s Upcoming Trainings
Kansas Children’s Service League’s Upcoming Trainings KCSL offers regular trainings, so we have linked their site in order for you to peruse what’s upcoming. Bookmark this page if…
Books
Kansas City’s Montgall Avenue: Black Leaders and the Street They Called Home by Margie Carr
Kansas City’s Montgall Avenue: Black Leaders and the Street They Called Home by Margie Carr Our own Margie Carr wrote Kansas City’s Montgall Avenue: Black Leaders and the…
Podcasts
Kansas foster care providers working to address children’s mental health needs
Kansas foster care providers working to address children’s mental health needs Amid a statewide mental health crisis, vulnerable children and teens in the state foster care system have…
Movies
Loving
Loving The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme…
Lunch & Learn: CASA Info Session @ 6 Mile Chophouse & Tavern
Lunch & Learn: CASA Info Session @ 6 Mile Chophouse & Tavern June 26 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 4931 W 6th St Lawrence, KS 66049 United States…
Books
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult Mad Honey tells the story of two women who have fled abusive pasts to make a new life in the small town of…
Movies
Maid
Maid After fleeing an abusive relationship, a young mother finds a job cleaning houses as she fights to provide for her child and build them a better future.…
Books
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land In her unstinting memoir — a portrait of working-class poverty in America — Land…
Making High-Impact Court Decisions for High-Risk Youth
Making High-Impact Court Decisions for High-Risk Youth June 15 11:30 am - 12:45 pm As concern about youth crime and violence increases, many judges and court leaders are…
Webinars
Mindspring Mental Health Alliance Webinars
Mindspring Mental Health Alliance Webinars Mindspring provides free mental health education opportunities to the public through webinars on a wide variety of mental health topics. All webinars are…
Movies
Missing From Care: Preventing and Responding to Sex Trafficking of Youth
Missing From Care: Preventing and Responding to Sex Trafficking of Youth 1in 6 of the children reported missing who had run away were likely child sex trafficking victims.…
Webinars
National CASA Webinars
National CASA Webinars National CASA has shared all their archived webinars from 2023. Find the list here, with links to connect you to the webinars. Find the list…
Webinars
National Child Welfare Workforce Institute’s Webinars
National Child Welfare Workforce Institute’s Webinars A consistently updated list of upcoming webinars curated by the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute on various topics in the realm of…
Articles
Neurobiological Development in the Context of Childhood Trauma
Neurobiological Development in the Context of Childhood Trauma Neurobiological systems may be particularly susceptible to deleterious impact of childhood trauma, and the impact of childhood trauma on development…
Books
No Visible Bruises by Rachel Snyder
No Visible Bruises by Rachel Snyder Snyder highlights an epidemic of unacknowledged violence. Fifty women a month are shot and killed by their partners, and she explores the…
NSAW: Integrating Adolescent Brain Development Into Child Welfare Practice with Older Youth
Others NSAW: Integrating Adolescent Brain Development Into Child Welfare Practice with Older Youth The curriculum, Integrating Adolescent Brain Development into Child Welfare Practice with Older Youth, was created…
Podcasts
Opeeka Podcast
Opeeka Podcast Opeeka believes the goal of using technology is to make life easier, more productive as well as increasing health & wellness. Opeeka’s mission is to keep…
Books
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of second chances, and unexpected…
Movies
Paper Tigers
Paper Tigers Follows the year in the life of a high school that has radically changed it’s approach to disciplining its students, becoming a model for how to…
Articles
Reaching “Unreachable” Teens & Tweens
Reaching “Unreachable” Teens & Tweens Kate Sample, MA, LPC, has spent most her clinical career as a therapist working with at-risk tweens and teens in residential, school, community,…
Podcasts
Reveal Podcast: Cashing in on Troubled Teens
Reveal Podcast: Cashing in on Troubled Teens How the country’s biggest psychiatric hospital chain is profiting off kids trapped in a broken child welfare system. Listen here
Articles
SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach (Paper/Article) – July 2014
SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach (Paper/Article) – July 2014 Trauma is a widespread, harmful and costly public health problem. It occurs as a…
Webinars
Situational Awareness Training
Situational Awareness Training In partnership with Convene Training, LLC the Kansas CASA Association hosted a Situational Awareness Safety training on June 26, 2024. This training was recorded and…
Books
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to “model minorities” in…
Books
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti–Black racist ideas and their staggering power…
Webinars
Strengthening Your Families Webinars
Strengthening Your Families Webinars The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) in conjunction with their adoption advocacy partner, The Jockey Being Family Foundation, offers 600 FREE registrations…
Webinars
Suicide Prevention Trainings
Suicide Prevention Trainings The Kansas Suicide Prevention Headquarters offers multiple trainings and webinars to help equip people with suicide prevention information. Sign up for self-paced trainings or live…
Webinars
Supporting Children, Staff, and School at Times of Crisis and Loss
Supporting Children, Staff, and School at Times of Crisis and Loss Presented by Dr. David Schonfeld, MD. Supporting Children, Staff, and School at Times of Crisis and Loss.…
Articles
Symposia: Torn Apart & Prosecuting Poverty (LPE Project)
Symposia: Torn Apart & Prosecuting Poverty (LPE Project) The Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project brings together a network of scholars, practitioners, and students working to develop innovative…
Books
The Age of Overwhelm: Strategies for the Long Haul by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
The Age of Overwhelm: Strategies for the Long Haul by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky Whether we are overwhelmed by work or school; our families or communities; caretaking for…
Books
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays…
Books
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D. A pioneering researcher and one of the world’s…
Webinars
The Body Keeps the Score: Healing Trauma Through Somatics
The Body Keeps the Score: Healing Trauma Through Somatics A discussion with Bessel van der Kolk, MD and Peter A. Levine, PhD about the concepts included in van…
Books
The Child Catcher: A Fight for Justice and Truth by Andrew Bridge
The Child Catcher: A Fight for Justice and Truth by Andrew Bridge The Child Catcher chronicles the author’s role in the longest-running, most bitterly fought mental health lawsuit…
Books
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein Details how federal housing policies in the 1940s and ’50s mandated segregation and undermined the ability of black families to own…
Movies
The Glass Castle
The Glass Castle A successful New York writer tries to reconcile her well-ordered life of privilege with her nomadic childhood ruled by a quixotic, unstable father. Also available…
Books
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Walls has written a stunning and life-affirming memoir about surviving a willfully impoverished, eccentric, and severely misguided family. Copies also available in…
Books
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh The story of a woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to…
Books
The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth by Kristin Henning
The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth by Kristin Henning Drawing upon 25 years of experience representing black youth in Washington D.C.’s juvenile court, Kris Henning…
Books
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman When three-month-old Lia Lee arrived at the county hospital emergency room in Merced, California, a chain of…
Podcasts
The Spirit of Jim Thorpe
The Spirit of Jim Thorpe Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes the world has ever known — a legend in the NFL, MLB, NCAA, and in…
Books
The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee Heather C. McGhee’s specialty is the American economy–and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. As she…
Movies
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez A boy’s brutal murder and the public trials of his guardians and social workers prompt questions about the system’s protection of vulnerable children.…
Books
Three Little Words: A Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Three Little Words: A Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter An inspiring true story of the tumultuous nine years Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent in the foster care system, and how she…
Articles
Throwaway Kids: Part 1: WE ARE SENDING MORE FOSTER KIDS TO PRISON THAN COLLEGE
Throwaway Kids: Part 1: WE ARE SENDING MORE FOSTER KIDS TO PRISON THAN COLLEGE The Kansas City Star has examined what happens to kids who age out of…
Movies
Till
Till The true story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who was brutally lynched in 1955 while visiting his cousins in…
Books
To the End of June
To the End of June An unforgettable portrait that takes us deep inside the lives of foster children in their search for a stable, loving family. This narrative…
Books
Torn Apart by Dorothy Roberts
Torn Apart by Dorothy Roberts An award-winning scholar exposes the foundational racism of the child welfare system and calls for radical change. Available at Lawrence Public Library
Books
Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others
Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others This book is written for anyone who is doing work with an intention to make…
Articles
Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Child Welfare Practice Tips
Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Child Welfare Practice Tips The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) developed this technical assistance tool for child welfare professionals…
Books
We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be by Cornelius Minor
We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be by Cornelius Minor In We Got This Cornelius Minor describes how…
Webinars
What Colleges Need to Know About Cannabis
What Colleges Need to Know About Cannabis This presentation will review current science related to cannabis use, with an emphasis on findings relevant on college campuses. Lessons learned…
Books
What My Bones Know: a Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
What My Bones Know: a Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo A searing memoir of reckoning and healing from an acclaimed journalist and former This…
Webinars
What The Adoption Of One Kansas City Mother’s Child Says About Race In The Child Welfare System
What The Adoption Of One Kansas City Mother’s Child Says About Race In The Child Welfare System Samantha Mungai, an immigrant from Kenya, left her child alone while…
Podcasts
What’s Not on the Test: The Overlooked Factors That Determine Success
What’s Not on the Test: The Overlooked Factors That Determine Success A look at why the lives of high school graduate and GED test takers’ lives vary so…
Articles
Why Mandatory Reporting Doesn’t Keep Children Safe
Why Mandatory Reporting Doesn’t Keep Children Safe Learn about the history of mandatory reporting and whether or not it helps reduce child abuse and neglect. Find the article…
Movies
Will & Harper
Will & Harper When Will Ferrell’s good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country…
Movies
Winter’s Bone
Winter’s Bone Seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly sets out to track down her father who put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared. If she fails to…
Books
Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell When Ree Dollys father skips bail, the 16-year-old knows if he doesn’t show up, her family will lose their home. Her goal had…
Podcasts
Zipcode Destiny: The Persistent Power Of Place And Education
Zipcode Destiny: The Persistent Power Of Place And Education The stories we tell about ourselves — stories of success and stories of failure — often have their beginnings…