Offered at no cost to volunteers, the domestic violence advocacy training is a certification that’s valid under California state law. It is a requirement for anyone providing direct service related to domestic violence crisis intervention, and it’s helpful for any other area of service in which you might encounter someone disclosing personal experience of domestic violence to you (e.g. social work, healthcare and other medical settings, youth services, etc).

This certification does not have an expiration date. It can be used on CVs and applications to schools and employment.

The training you receive has a heavy emphasis on peer counseling skills. Many of the concepts you learn and skills you practice translate easily into situations unrelated to domestic violence, including your personal relationships as well as with classmates, coworkers, and strangers.

Not all internships require the domestic violence training. Depending on the guidelines of your academic program, you may be able to participate in other volunteer programs which still satisfy the requirements to receive academic credit.

Many of our academic interns use our advocacy programs as an opportunity to explore whether or not they want to commit greater time and resources towards certain careers, especially in regards to social work, therapy, and other social or mental health services.

Some interns have realized that the reality of direct service wasn’t what they’re looking for and so were able to choose different career paths before committing financially to further education in those particular directions. Others have found that not only were they on the right track, but now they have more real-world experience to identify where their professional passions lie and to make their graduate school applications more attractive to recruiters.

Having the combination of a certified training and direct service experience can be helpful not only in exploring where your professional interests lie, but regardless of your career of interest, it can help build out CVs for folks with less or no professional experience in the workforce and learn about professional-level expectations.

Upon completion of your full volunteer commitment in good standing, you may use Walnut Avenue as a professional reference for future employment or academic applications upon request.

Walnut Avenue can never guarantee employment, whether with itself or another organization. However, as positions become available, Walnut Avenue has a culture of prioritizing hiring from its volunteers and interns.

Prior interns have also reported that their certification and direct service experience was a factor in finding employment at other organizations. Some companies which aren’t involved in social services, even tech ones like Google, have reported a preference for applicants with experience in hotline services because of the way “people management” and “soft skills” are applicable across all fields, not just social services.