This page contains all published Continuing Education blog posts — containing information and updates regarding volunteer continuing education opportunities and recertification — sorted chronologically with the newest at the top.

New Continuing Education Events, Updated Document and New Volunteer Resource

We regularly host, sponsor and support a variety of events that provide community outreach, increase awareness of our program, help recruit new volunteers, raise funds and furnish training to our volunteer guardians ad litem. The following events were added to our calendar.

  • Educational/Parent Surrogate Training 2020-2021
    Continuing Education
    Thursday, August 27, 2020
    Thursday, September 24, 2020
    Thursday, October 22, 2020
    Thursday, November 19, 2020
    Thursday, December 17, 2020
    Thursday, January 28, 2021
    Thursday, February 25, 2021
    Thursday, March 25, 2021
    Thursday, April 22, 2021
    Thursday, May 20, 2021

You can also browse and access events on our calendar grid.

Document Update

The Guardian ad Litem Caregiver Brochure on the Prospective Volunteers page has been updated. This document may be downloaded in the "Volunteer Advocate Position Description" section.

New Volunteer Resource

The Leon County Human Services Resource Guide, an annually-updated directory of Leon County services available to the community, has been added to the Current Volunteers page. This document may be downloaded in the "Resources" section.

Event Cancellations, Standards of Operation and Staff Directory Updates

We regularly host, sponsor and support a variety of events that provide community outreach, increase awareness of our program, help recruit new volunteers, raise funds and furnish training to our volunteer guardians ad litem. The following events were cancelled and removed from our calendar due to COVID-19.

Form and Document Library

One updated document is now available to download in the Form and Document Library on the Current Volunteers page.

  • Standards of Operation
    filed under Forms and Documents: Standards and Guidelines

Staff Directory Update

Our staff directory on the Contact page has been updated to reflect recent personnel changes.

Please join us in congratulating Saffa Wilkes on her promotion to Child Advocate Manager. In addition, Melissa Moore-Josephs and Zoe Richmond have departed. We thank Melissa and Zoe for their service and wish them the best with their future endeavors.

Finally, mobile telephone numbers were added for Lisa Meola, Laurie Williams and Erica Zamarron.

Thank you and stay safe!

May and June 2020 Event Cancellations

We regularly host, sponsor and support a variety of events that provide community outreach, increase awareness of our program, help recruit new volunteers, raise funds and furnish training to our volunteer guardians ad litem. The following events were cancelled and removed from our calendar due to COVID-19.

Thank you and stay safe!

New Webinar Events, Cancellations and COVID-19 Resources

We regularly host, sponsor and support a variety of events that provide community outreach, increase awareness of our program, help recruit new volunteers, raise funds and furnish training to our volunteer guardians ad litem. The following event was added to our calendar.

You can also browse and access events on our calendar grid.

Event Cancellations

A number of cancellations recently took place due to COVID-19.

COVID-19 Resources

We are temporarily not conducting in-person interviews and training at this time. No worries, though! We have switched from our face-to-face format to telephone interviews and online training. Your health and safety is our priority, so we will be conducting everything remotely until it is safe to be in the community again.

As such, the "Apply To Volunteer" section on the Prospective Volunteers page has been updated with the current procedure.

Finally, for the latest information and resources related to COVID-19, visit the following links — also available on our home page under "Alerts and Reminders".

  • Florida Department of Health

  • Florida's Center for Child Welfare

Stay healthy and be safe!

New Continuing Education Event, Event Cancellation and Pre-Service Training Update

We regularly host, sponsor and support a variety of events that provide community outreach, increase awareness of our program, help recruit new volunteers, raise funds and furnish training to our volunteer guardians ad litem. The following event was added to our calendar.

You can also browse and access events on our calendar grid.

Event Cancellation

The Educational Surrogate Lunch and Learn training scheduled for Thursday, March 26, 2020 has been cancelled. Other sessions are available this year in April, May, August, September, October and November.

Pre-Service Training Update

The Training page has been updated to include a new pre-service training requirement. The web-based course "Understanding Implicit Bias" is now listed in the Phase 1: Independent Study section.

New Events: Educational Surrogate Lunch and Learn

We regularly host, sponsor and support a variety of events that provide community outreach, increase awareness of our program, help recruit new volunteers, raise funds and furnish training to our volunteer guardians ad litem. The following events were added to our calendar.

You can also browse and access events on our calendar grid.

New Events: 2020 Volunteer Training, Continuing Education and Swearing In Ceremony

We regularly host, sponsor and support a variety of events that provide community outreach, increase awareness of our program, help recruit new volunteers, raise funds and furnish training to our volunteer guardians ad litem. The following events were added to our calendar.

2020 Volunteer Training

This year's pre-service training for new volunteers is offered in two varieties. Standard six-day sessions ("A") are conducted on three Tuesday and three Thursday evenings. Additional two-day sessions ("B") are conducted on two Saturdays.

Other Events

You can also browse and access events on our calendar grid.

Happy New Year!

Staff Directory Updates and Minor Housekeeping

Staff Directory Update

Our staff directory on the Contact page has been updated to reflect recent personnel changes.

Eric Emery, Taylor Tachell and Shanna-Kay Turner have departed. We thank Eric, Taylor and Shanna-Kay for their service and wish them the best with their future endeavors.

Minor Housekeeping

Several small updates were made to the Continuing Education page and resource center to remove out-of-date content.

Event Cancellations and Staff Directory Update

The following events have been cancelled and removed from our calendar.

Those still interested in the educational surrogate program can register for upcoming classes in May, September, October or November.

Staff Directory Update

Our staff directory on the Contact page has been updated to reflect recent personnel changes.

Please join us in welcoming Child Advocate Manager Melissa Moore-Josephs to our team. Additionally, two mobile numbers were added and two staffers' surnames were updated.

Rescheduled Trainings, Optima Refreshers and Volunteer Form Update

Four of this year's upcoming volunteer training classes have had dates rescheduled. The event pages, calendar and downloadable flyers have been updated accordingly.

Optima Refresher

In addition, seven upcoming Optima Refresher classes have been rescheduled. The event pages, calendar and downloadable flyers have been updated.

Volunteer Form Update

The GAL Report To The Court form has been updated. Word and PDF versions of the form can be downloaded from the Form and Document Library on the Current Volunteers page.