School: University of Georgia School of Law

This summer, I had the pleasure of working with the Attorney Guardian Ad Litem Office for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit. While my main duty consisted of researching the Level of Care transition in the Department of Human Resources, I gained experience in representing children as a whole. My supervisor, Victoria Moore, allowed me to explore as many facets of child representation as possible. The opportunities abounded, and I sought to gain experience in as many areas as possible.

My main responsibility as an intern was to research the Level of Care Transition. I had heard about the transition last summer, but did not possess any real knowledge about the present system or the proposed changes. Simply familiarizing myself with the present system took time, but this was necessary to understand the upcoming changes. Finding information about the proposed changes also took time. I consulted a number of sources only to find sketchy information at best. I found that there lacked a central way of disseminating the information. I have continuously worked to consolidate the information into one source - basically a "What's Going On?" document. My work continues on this document as I write this final summary. My plans are to continue my work on this document since it is the foundation of my internship work.

I have been asked what my opinion is of the new system. My personal opinion does not matter, but the optimistic part of me hopes that children will somehow receive the best possible treatment once everyone learns how the new system works. My biggest fear is that it will result in frustration, untrained workers, and bureaucratically mandated results that in the end accomplish nothing but a big mess instead of acting in the child's best interest. I have experienced my own frustration simply in researching the changes. I cannot imagine the frustration DHR employees are having trying to implement the changes. My research presented the opportunity to become immersed in a current topic that truly affects the child advocacy system. I look forward to continuing my research and helping my supervisor, the court, and local DFCS offices navigate the new system in order to produces the best results for children in state custody.

I attended the GAL conference sponsored through the Office of the Child Advocate last summer, so I was excited to have the opportunity to again attend this year. This year's conference confronted many of the hot button issues confronting child advocates such as the Standards of Practice for Child Advocated and the Level of Care transition. As an up-and-coming child advocate, I was also able to learn about issues that effects children brought into care such as parental methamphetamine use and how to address that use in court-ordered case plans. Attending the conference makes me confident that I have chosen to pursue a worthwhile and challenging career. I appreciate my supervisor for allowing me to attend.

One of the most exciting opportunities presented to me was to actually practice under the Third Year Practice Act, an opportunity my supervisor certainly was not required to provide. But she recognized that my career with involve child advocacy, and she wanted to give as many tools as possible to pursue it successfully. I was presented with two cases on which to work. While they left me with very little court time due to dismissals and protective orders, I was still able to experience negotiations, interviewing witnesses, and advocating for my clients. Working on these cases left me excited about child advocacy and wanting to learn as much as possible about effective representation. It has been my honor to learn from the attorneys in this circuit, especially the children's attorneys.

Working in my particular placement gave me the unique opportunity to work closely with CASA and the Juvenile Court Judge. Both the CASA workers and the Judge welcomed me and worked with my supervisor to make me feel like a part of the team. They seem invested in making sure I had the opportunity to learn. I appreciate their effort and interest. To say I enjoyed my time this summer working in the Piedmont Circuit would be an understatement. The experience gained and the knowledge learned is priceless. I have been mentored and taught in ways that no classroom experience could ever reproduce. I leave my placement with a wealth of knowledge about how to treat people, advocate effectively for children, work effectively with all the players in juvenile court, and simply be a better lawyer.

As a law student, I struggled to find a summer internship in child advocacy that also provided a stipend. In order to attract the best and the brightest students, there have to be incentives, and the Emory Summer Child Advocacy Program makes provides those incentives and encourages working in child advocacy. The Barton Clinic continuously strives to make the child welfare system in this state better. Its staff recognizes that doing so includes training people to work in the field. I felt better prepared to enter my placement based on the training and support from the Barton Clinic. My experience has certainly molded and affected my future career as a child advocate. It has been my pleasure to work as an ESCAP intern, and I would recommend anyone interested in juvenile court to pursue an internship.