To best equip you and empower survivors, we require that volunteer advocates attend all classes. We understand that unexpected things happen, so we make allowance for up to 2 missed classes, provided that those classes are made up prior to graduation. Reach out to us with any questions.

Participation in the class will allow you to move to the next step as a volunteer survivor advocate with Freekind. However, there are still a number of checks to be completed before becoming an advocate, including completion of: online forms, a final exam, a criminal background check and a psychological evaluation.

Please contact us and advise us that you are not able to attend and whether you wish your enrollment fee to be a donation to the organization, or whether you would like the fee to roll over to the next class so you can continue toward serving as an advocate at a later date.

Volunteer survivor advocates typically invest at least 4 hours a month. Many of our advocates have daytime jobs and serve on evenings and weekends. If you serve as a jail instructor to help identify potential survivors, you will spend approximately 3 hours per week for 8 weeks, with a fixed schedule. If you are acting as a short-term advocate, you may spend 4-24 hours per month, depending on whether you are assisting with local support for basic needs or transporting a client to a residential program. If you serve as a long-term advocate, you may meet with a survivor every other week for 90 minutes. These roles are not mutually exclusive, and the amount of time you spend is a a combination of your desire and the needs of our clients.

We offer our Survivor Advocacy Training at the cost of $150.00 for those attending for professional development and $75.00 for those intending to onboard as future volunteer survivor advocates with Freekind. For those who complete the training and plan to serve as volunteer advocates, you will also be responsible for the cost of your criminal background check. Freekind will cover the cost of the required psychological evaluation with a contracted licensed professional.

Our online registration form requires payment at the time of registration. It's ideal that these online tools be used to keep our registration in one place and keep our team focused on preparing for the training. If absolutely necessary, you can pay by check; but, if you plan to do this please email as far in advance as possible. Only paid participants will receive the link to the online training, so it is your responsibility to ensure that we have your payment at least 5 days prior to the first session.