Join and complete the 40 hour Domestic Violence Counselor training that meets the state mandate for Domestic Violence Counselor Privilege, and commit to dedicating 60 hours of your time to volunteer with SFAWS*, and receive a CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT (for the100 hours of training+volunteering). Regarding the 60 hours obligation, if you carve out 2.5 hours per week, you will complete this obligation within 6 months!
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING VOLUNTEERING:
SFAWS volunteers should be interested and ready to offer support for adult survivors as well as to work with children (both with staff supervision). SFAWS can use your support in various ways include assisting staff to help clients move, assisting with housing searches, providing accompaniment to appointments, helping survivors in learning new skills and participating in SFAWS community outreach and fundraising.
FINGERPRINTING REQUIREMENT
Because our volunteers may have interactions with children and other vulnerable populations, state regulations and company policy require that everyone who will volunteer with us first needs to undergo a thorough fingerprint- based background check. If you are accepted into our training program based on your initial interview, you will need to go through this background check before your training can take place. SFAWS will provide you with necessary directions on how to complete this process, and will cover the cost of the report.
SFAWS 40+ HOUR DOMESTIC COUNSELOR TRAINING.
The training seeks to ensure that graduates can work with survivors of domestic violence in ways that are legally privileged in the state of California, and reflective of SFAWS's core values and practices.
We have eight training sessions, five will be held online and three will be held in person. Staff will provide support for trainees if participants face hardware and/or WIFI barriers or issues. Any changes to training times or agendas will be announced a couple of weeks ahead of time.
Training days will include large group time, small group time, role plays, case scenarios, presentations, and more. Participants will also have individual meetings with trainers and individual study time.
Our upcoming training begins on Saturday, March 21, 2026
It continues on the following Saturdays: March 28, April 4, 11, 18, 25, and May 2 and 9. Optional MLAM (Language Advocate) Training dates are held on May 16 and 17.
All Saturday trainings will start at 9AM and end by 3:30 PM, with a 30-minute lunch break and several short breaks included. There will be self-study materials that should be completed before the end of the training.
Attendance at all sessions is strongly encouraged.
If you miss two sessions or more, you will not be eligible to graduate and volunteer at SFAWS.
If you wish to participate in our 40 Hour Domestic Violence Counselor training for your own professional development and do not wish to fulfill the 60 hour volunteer obligation, to keep the program sustainable
we'd ask you to cover the cost of training of $350.
For those who intend to volunteer, suggested donation: $20-$50 to help with administration cost.
WHAT DO I DO NEXT?
If you're interested and available on those training dates, we welcome you to take the following steps!
1. Fill out the short application below and submit it.
2. SF AWS staff will follow up with you to schedule an interview.
Attention: Have you read the information above regarding the need for a thorough fingerprint- based background check in order to complete this training, and are you comfortable agreeing to be fingerprinted?If you have any questions, please contact Jee (
[email protected]) or Hediana (
[email protected]).
