School: University of Tennessee College of Law

When I entered law school, I was fairly certain that I wanted to pursue a career in child and family advocacy upon graduation. My recent internship with Emory's Barton Clinic through their Summer Child Advocacy Program has only served to solidify that career goal. Now, heading into my final year of school, I am excited about the possibilities and opportunities that are out there in the field of juvenile advocacy.

I must admit that, prior to my internship, I had begun to rethink my plans to head into juvenile advocacy. I left a juvenile law class jaded and disheartened at what was happening to our nation's youth and feeling as if there was not a place for me in our juvenile justice system. It seemed that all that I heard about was how children slipped through the cracks and did not get the help that they needed in time. And, of course, it did not help that everyone who heard that I was interested in juvenile advocacy was quick to inform me that there was no way to support yourself doing that kind of work. However, I remained hopeful. I knew that there had to be people out there with the same frustrations, but with a desire to make changes in the system... to better it. I knew that there were others out there with the same passion for helping children and I began to look for them. Thankfully, I realized that I did not need to look too far. As soon as I learned about the Emory Summer Child Advocacy Program, I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. Fortunately, I was chosen to participate in the program at the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit placement.

I split my time this summer between three of the counties in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit: Catoosa, Walker, and Dade counties. The bulk of my time was spent working with and observing the juvenile courts in these counties. In Catoosa County, I observed Judges Poston and Giglio, who both work as part-time judges, full-time attorneys. Judge Henry presided over court in Walker and Dade counties. Judge Henry is the only full-time juvenile court judge in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.

In addition to spending time in court, I also had the opportunity to spend time with some of the other people involved in the juvenile justice system. I worked with juvenile court personnel, guardians ad litem, CASA workers, DFCS case workers, the Circuit's juvenile public defender, and DJJ probation officers. At various points throughout the summer, I was given the opportunity to visit and tour both the Dalton and Rome Youth Detention Centers, to go on several DFCS home visits, to attend Citizen Review Panels and Competency Plan meetings, to sit in on delinquency mediations and probation meetings, to talk with parent attorney's about their unique role, and to work on various research projects. I learned that each of the players in the juvenile court fills a vital role and is crucial to maintaining an effective and meaningful juvenile justice system.

As I said, the majority of my time was spent in court. I observed a variety of juvenile cases involving deprivation, juvenile delinquents, unruly children, guardianships, termination of parental rights, and traffic violations. On many of the cases, I found myself thankful that I was not the judge because the decisions to be made were so difficult. On this note, I learned quite a bit from discussing many of these cases with Judge Henry. After a particularly difficult case, he would look at me and say, "What would you do?" Many a time, he would come up with questions that would cause me to reevaluate my initial decision. For instance, sometimes I would initially think that the child should be taken into DFCS custody, only to be reminded that foster care is not always a better placement for a child.

Many of the cases were highly emotional and stand out as experiential learning experiences. For example, a detention hearing for a 14 yr. old boy who had run away numerous times and had finally turned himself in because he did not have anywhere else to go was particularly memorable. He informed the court that he was running away because his mother and step-father were abusing him. In addition to the runaway charges, though, he also had some theft charges pending, which he denied. The judge had to decide where to place him. He obviously could not be sent home. He needed a secure environment because he had threatened to run again, and he needed psychological help, including medication for depression. The problem was that the judge just had nowhere to send him other than the RYDC until more evaluation could be done and an appropriate spot in a program found for him. It was a tough situation because the child felt as if he was being punished for his parents' wrongdoing. Unfortunately, the judges' hands were tied as to where the child could be sent. That day the child ended up having to go to the RYDC, but he was later placed in a therapeutic foster home.

Another case that stands out is one where a young mom, after receiving continuous drug counseling and still failing numerous drug screens, decided that she would never be able to provide a good home for her child. With great emotion, she decided to voluntarily relinquish her parental rights, so that the child could have a better life.

There were cases that brought smiles to my face when families were reunited after the parents got help and successfully completed their case plan. Then, there were cases which broke my heart like the one where a mother continued to allow her abusive boyfriend to return home and repeat the domestic violence cycle... or, the two brothers who were frequent flyers of the juvenile delinquent system who were being held for the third time on felony theft charges and showed no remorse.

I was impressed during my time in court by the judge's interest and concern for the children. Unfortunately, I also observed some of the effects of the lack of resources in these small, rural counties. Many of the parties, including the DFCS case workers, GALs, and attorneys seemed to be overworked and somewhat underpaid. Everyone involved wanted to represent/help these kids to the best of their ability. But, at time, there just seemed to be too many kids to go around and to devote the proper amount of time to each case. In many of these families, money was a real issue. Certain services were somewhat limited because of the county size and budget. For instance, one of my tasks was to help find a counselor for a sexually abused boy. While there was a local Child Advocacy Center which was supposed to provide counseling to children in his situation, the Center was then without a counselor. (To their credit, they had advertised the position, but been unable to fill it.) I learned that there was a list of over 30 children waiting to get counseling from the center. These children were from families who could not afford a private counselor.

The resources that are available, though, seem to be excellent. It is obvious that those involved with the system care about these kids and want to help them. I was particularly impressed with the level of juvenile advocacy that I saw in the court personnel and the lay GALs. Even more so than the attorneys and case workers, these individuals really seemed to know what was going on with each case. The GALs were often the ones who would take the time to really talk with the children and visit them outside of court.

The highlight of my internship was the time that I was able to spend working on a GAL case. While Georgia law did not allow me to actually serve as a child's GAL, I was able to work alongside one of the GALs and do a lot of the legwork on one particularly difficult abuse case. I had the opportunity to interview the child, the foster mother, the allegedly abusive (and incarcerated) father, the case worker, and potential relative placements. Then, I wrote the report that would be submitted to the court by the GAL. This experience allowed me to truly get a taste of what it will be like to one day represent a child's best interest in court.