Legacy Advocate Core Training
Fulfilling OCVA pre-service training requirements.
This Advocate Core curriculum was originally developed by the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs (WCSAP). While WCSAP is no longer operating, this legacy content ensure new advocates continue to have access to pre-service training while an update curriculum for Advocate Core is being created.
Advocate Core is 30 hours of state-approved pre-service training that all new sexual assault advocates are required to complete prior to any direct engagement with clients.
The Legacy Advocate Core curriculum was originally created by WCSAP and other collaborators from the field. WA-SAST hosts the WCSAP Advocate Core Curriculum while Consolidated Core is being developed.
What is Legacy Advocate Core?
How to Complete Your Training
Because each organization’s training setup is a little different, there are a couple of ways to meet core training requirements. We’ve outlined two pathways below. New advocates can either complete the coursework online at their own pace through this platform or participate in live (in-person or virtual) training directly through your agency or an agency who offers Advocate Core to the field.
Online through WA-SAST
New advocates can complete the asynchronous WCSAP Legacy content right here on this Learning Management System (LMS). This platform tracks your progress and allows you to easily generate and download your certificates for your employer.
Agency-Based Training
Alternatively, you can complete certified, agency-based Advocate Core training at your place of employment. This training must be certified by OCVA designated partners.
Some service providers and employers will prefer Tribal Partners and Culturally Specific Advocate Core Programs.
Finding the Right Fit for Your Community
While WA-SAST offers a comprehensive online Advocate Core, it is not the only state-approved path. We recognize that the most effective advocacy is deeply rooted in community context. We strongly encourage you to carefully consider the populations your agency serves and select the training path that best aligns with the unique needs, languages, and cultural realities of those specific communities.
AI / AN, Indigenous, & Tribal Affiliated Advocate Core
Advocacy within Indigenous communities requires a profound understanding of Tribal sovereignty, historical trauma, and traditional healing practices. Tribal Advocate Core provides this essential, specialized foundation.
Guided by Indigenous leaders and organizations, such as WomenSpirit, this training ensures that advocates serving Native survivors are thoroughly grounded in the specific legal and cultural landscapes of their communities. If you will be serving AI / AN, Indigenous, and Tribal affiliated communities, exploring this specific training path is highly recommended.
Culturally Specific Training Resources
Effective advocacy has to be rooted in the culture, language, and lived experiences of the survivors you are supporting. It is the intention of Washington State and providers in the field to create Culturally Specific Advocate Core. We are looking forward to when they become available.
Until then, WA-SAST hosts other cultural and language specific courses that professionals are welcome to access to help round out their skills.
Other Legacy WCSAP Training
In addition to Advocate Core, WA-SAST hosts several other WCSAP legacy modules. While some of this content may contain outdated elements, it remains available for your ongoing learning.
Therapy Core
This Therapist Core training provides a foundational understanding of the legal, philosophical, and statistical realities surrounding sexual assault. Participants will explore the criminal justice process, dissect widespread societal myths, and learn the precise definitions necessary to effectively support survivors.
Building on this knowledge, the coursework delves deeply into both adult and child trauma to examine specific diagnoses, memory impacts, and evidence-based treatment components
On-Going Advocacy
This Legacy On-Going Advocacy training, originally developed by WCSAP, provides essential continuing education for advocates.
It covers a critical range of topics, including understanding adult learning styles for better community presentations, specific advocacy strategies for survivors of intimate partner sexual violence, and how to effectively collaborate with mental health therapists.
PREA: Working with Incarcerated Survivors
This legacy orientation course, originally developed by WCSAP and facilitated largely in partnership with Department of Corrections (DOC) staff, prepares advocates to work with incarcerated survivors under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
Prevention Training
Developed by WCSAP, this legacy Prevention module shifts our focus from individual crisis response to macro-level, primary prevention using a public health framework. It equips advocates with foundational tools to understand the systemic root causes of harm, offering a primer on racial violence and exploring how gender socialization and healthy sexuality paradigms impact our communities.
This legacy Management Module, originally developed by WCSAP, focuses on the crucial, behind-the-scenes financial administration that keeps our agencies running and our doors open. It breaks down the complexities of government grants and contracts, offering step-by-step guidance on how nonprofit sexual assault programs can navigate the Uniform Guidance rules to properly fund essential administrative and overhead costs.
The Future of WA-SAST Training
Hosting the WCSAP legacy content is only part of the training offered here. The WA-SAST platform is constantly growing with updated content created by our team and network contributors.
Check out our full course catalog to discover new modules, or read about how we are actively working with the statewide partners to build the new, modernized Consolidated Advocate Core training.
