Rather, advocates can be aware of resources in their community, understand mandatory reporting protocol, and become familiar with legal and medical systems. Advocates should not make promises to child survivors and their caregivers, nor should they provide legal or medical advice. Advocates can provide support regarding survivor's primary concerns, and accompany survivors to medical appointments and legal hearings where appropriate. Child and youth survivors may experience increased distress, anxiety, and distrust while navigating their community and other systems. This creates a foundation upon which to provide culturally relevant resources and referrals. These are just some safety considerations to address while providing advocacy to child and youth survivors.Ī child or youth's holistic and cultural identities must be considered while providing advocacy. Thus, it is helpful for advocates to be familiar with the effects of sexual assault and trauma across the lifespan. They may present with a variety of somatic, cognitive, psychological, and behavioral trauma responses. Is the child safe from further victimization? Are they believed and supported by a parent or caregiver? Can additional safe, supportive people be identified? Advocacy efforts should also include ongoing validation for the myriad of emotions and sensations experienced by child and youth survivors. When providing crisis intervention services to youth and children, advocates can be sure to address immediate safety concerns. Advocates who serve youth and children may also have questions about how to best support children through legal and multi-disciplinary processes. Furthermore, advocates are often concerned with how to address confidentiality and privacy dynamics while balancing mandated reporting obligations. There are widespread concerns about how to have age appropriate conversations about sexual assault, and how to include relevant advocacy activities. Advocates may experience some confusion about how to provide best practice advocacy to young people who have been sexually assaulted. This includes serving children and youth survivors. Prevention trainings are open to a wide audience, but members often get first priority on registration or discounted rates.Advocates are called upon to serve sexual assault survivors of all ages and stages of development. MNCASA is able to provide prevention trainings upon request, and we rely on member feedback to inform which trainings we bring to Minnesota. Prevention trainings range from 101 basics to more complex topics to curriculum train the trainers. Participants will learn about advocacy basics, including Introduction to Advocacy, Active Listening Skills, Spectrum of Sexual Violence, Cultural Responsiveness, Reactions and Responses to Sexual Violence, Ethics, Confidentiality, and more. This training is open only to volunteers and staff at partner programs who have not yet completed the 40-hour sexual assault advocacy training. This training is relevant to advocates at any experience level and in any focus area including, but not limited to: shelter, legal, youth, housing and economic support, and community advocacy. Attendees will be equipped with knowledge and skills to help victims/survivors navigate the rules and processes, uphold their rights, and increase their safety. Throughout this two-day training, experts present information on these systems and how victims/survivors of sexual violence engage with them. This training focuses on the many legal systems that victims/survivors interact with outside of the basics of criminal court. This training teaches advocates who are new to legal advocacy the essential skills for advocacy in criminal and civil court settings, including the roles of systems-based professionals and their responsibilities to sexual assault victims/survivors. LEGAL ADVOCACY: BASICS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT ADVOCATES MNCASA offers trainings throughout the year that are free or have a reduced cost for members.
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