Whether designed in-house, provided by a government or state agency, or purchased from a commercial vendor, workplace training programs can take many forms. Current methods of delivering training content include on-site, face-to-face facilitated training in a small or large group setting; online training, from narrated or silent PowerPoint slides to a dynamic webinar with a live trainer and real-time interaction; or combinations of on-site and online delivery.

Increasingly, organizations are trending more towards the power and flexibility of online training, accessible on your website or via password on a government or commercial site. Although it comes with certain limitations—including the lack of in-person interaction, real-time answers to questions, and group discussions—online training can provide a cost- and time-effective option for youth-serving organizations of every size. Most online training platforms log in the learner by name and position, collect any other information needed to identify the trainee, identify the type and level of training needed (in some cases), and issue a report to administrators about who has—and has not—completed the training. Many online training programs are self-paced and keep track of where the learner is in the training, so the trainee can pause or stop and resume training later. 

Besides administering the training, programs can link to your policies and procedures and code of conduct, and to state reporting laws for reference. Some training modules administer periodic section- or topic-specific vignettes and quizzes, score them, provide feedback on both correct and incorrect responses, administer a final examination, record the examination results, and either issue a certificate of completion or allow the test to be taken again. 

More Training Resources

If yours is a large organization, you may consider developing or purchasing commercially available onsite and online training programs tailored to your specific environment. In some cases, insurers have developed child abuse prevention and reporting education programs as part of their client risk mitigation programs. You can check with your insurance provider or risk management agency to see if they provide any abuse prevention training programs for their clients.  

In addition to organizations developing training, some public agencies have also made free online training widely available. For example, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has a publicly available training resource for mandated reporters.

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