Safe & Together Trainer Certification Program

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Certified to Make a Difference

Due to global demand for the Safe & Together™ Model Core Training, we have developed a program to certify trainers within agencies so they can teach our Model curricula to their organizations as well as their local community. This allows us to offer more trainings in more locations throughout each year. Our goal is to continually certify new trainers each year to further expand the Model’s reach worldwide.

The Safe & Together Model Trainer Certification Program is a robust suite of tools designed to enhance the capacity of agencies. After satisfactory completion of the program, you will be able to go back to your agency certified to train the Model to further your agency’s goal of becoming more domestic abuse–informed to keep kids Safe & Together with their non-offending parent. This will reduce the cost to your agency as a whole and, more importantly, normalize systems change as you train your whole staff to align practice and language.

Requirements

In order to become a Safe & Together Model Certified Trainer, you must:

  • Hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent. Extensive child welfare and/or family violence professional experience will be considered in lieu of a degree.

  • Work for an agency that has applied to become or is an existing Safe & Together Institute Partner Agency.

  • Have successfully completed Core Training.

  • Complete the Train the Trainer program in its entirety.

  • Participate in mandatory coaching sessions with a Safe & Together Training Mentor.

  • Complete required reading, assignments, and online learning.

What Is a Partner Agency?

When great forces come together, great change is possible. We are proud to partner with many agencies leading the way in domestic abuse–informed practice, high-quality training, and supporting the dissemination of the Safe & Together Model.

Becoming a Partner Agency involves a plan around whole-system change including implementation planning guidance, training, and more. Certified Trainers are one way an agency can enhance their own staff capacity and/or the capacity of their community to respond to domestic abuse cases involving children.

Your organization must apply to become a Partner Agency in order for you to participate in the Trainer Certification Program.

The 2025 Safe & Together Model Train the Trainer Applications Are Available Now!

Our live virtual Train the Trainer opportunity is the starting point for the Trainer Certification Program, which qualifies individuals to become certified to train in the Safe & Together Model Core, Overview, and One-Hour Briefing and help their agency improve their domestic abuse–informed practice.

Built as a 12-week program, Train the Trainer includes once-a-week sessions that feature:

💻 Four hours of live training with Safe & Together faculty via Zoom
✍ Weekly assignments that augment learning and prepare learners for the following week’s sessions
⏳ Time focused on training delivery prep and implementation support to produce practitioner and systems behavior changes inside and outside of the training space
▶️ Content delivery using varied modalities that address diverse learning styles

If you or your team want to become Safe & Together Model Certified Trainers and a Partner Agency, click the respective button below to apply by May 15, 2025!

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The 12-Week Train the Trainer Program

As part of our Trainer Certification Program, Safe & Together's annual Train the Trainer (TTT) program is designed to provide a skills-oriented foundation for delivering the Core Training, the Overview Training, and the One-Hour Briefing. Trainer certification is a way for agencies to enhance their own staff capacity and/or the capacity of their community to respond to domestic abuse cases involving children. 

Train the Trainer is focused on moving trainer candidates toward mastery in three main competencies:

  • Knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to the continuum of domestic abuse-informed practice

  • Knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to the Safe & Together Model

  • Knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to the Core Training manual and related training activities

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Consisting of 48 educational hours of blended learning activities, the 12-week Train the Trainer includes live training sessions with S&TI faculty, workshopping sessions, training practice presentations, group exercises, independent learning activities, and discussion. Train the Trainer will help candidates:

  • Increase their ability and confidence in describing the various components of the Safe & Together Model and domestic abuse–informed practice

  • Increase their ability and confidence in the instruction of each of the skills identified in the training (Assessment, Interviewing, Documentation, and Case Planning)

  • Increase their ability and confidence in teaching each of the core skills identified in the training

  • Build upon prior knowledge of domestic violence dynamics and child welfare systems as well as cultural competency, substance abuse, and mental health intersections and intersectionalities

Completion of this comprehensive training is one of the requirements to become a Safe & Together Model Certified Trainer, and prospective trainers must apply to participate.

Interested in becoming a Certified Trainer and transforming your work?

 FAQs

  • Yes! We also take applicants with extensive work experience in child welfare and domestic abuse.

  • Yes! Our Certified Trainers are from many different sectors and are trained to localize the training to meet the needs of the participants in the training room.

  • Yes, the Partner Agency will pay a per-person licensing fee to the Institute. This licensing fee is a 60% reduction in cost as compared to using Safe & Together faculty.

  • Certification is directly connected to the employing Partner Agency, so all training is on behalf of the Partner Agency. However, if you leave your place of employ, your new agency can become a Partner Agency and your certification can transfer.