Continuing Education for Professionals
From Surviving to Thriving: VSS Guidance After a Crime
In this workshop, VSS hosts a one-hour presentation on the services and resources we can provide to victims after a crime has occurred. This can be held in-person or virtually, and is open to both community members and professionals as it is catered toward the target audience.
Core Academy Training – $450
This 40-hour training qualifies participants to provide direct services to victims of crime in Washington state. Additionally, through the National Advocate Credentialing Program, our academy makes participants eligible to be credentialed nationally on four levels – provisional, basic, intermediate, and advanced.
The Core Academy educates participants in seven tracts which include: professionalism, victim rights, victim trauma, communication skills, resources, cultural and spiritual advocacy, and the legal system (both criminal and civil). Once participants complete the training, they have a solid foundation of information, skills, and tools to provide advocacy and support services to victims of all crime types.
System Based and Community Based Advocacy
This class provides a complete overview of the fundamental differences and similarities in the two types of advocacy services. A firm understanding of how each type of advocate can assist victims of the crime will result in victims getting comprehensive, wrap-around services that meet all their complex needs. When system and community advocates work in harmony, victims are more likely to participate in the criminal justice process effectively and find a new normal after the devastating effects of victimization.
Resources for Advocates
One of the biggest challenges that victim advocates face on a daily basis is finding adequate, appropriate, and successful resources for the clients they serve. Resources exist but can be hard to find. This class will teach victim advocates about existing resources, both local and national, how to uncover hard-to-find specific resources, and how to do effective web-based searches for resources.
Suicide Assessment
This class is designed to assist advocates with assessing risk, providing the skills to intervene, and resources that can connect suicidal to further support.