School: University of Maryland School of Law

When I applied for the ESCAP Internship I wanted to use the experience to not only have the opportunity to have a summer of direct representation in child welfare, but also to learn whether this is the area of law that I could really see myself practicing. I felt that I was in a unique position of being a law student as well as having extensive work history in child protective services, mentoring and mental health/substance abuse. I have always wanted to pursue a career in child welfare advocacy, but I have not always been sure if there was space in a law career for my true passions. I had stumbled upon ESCAP through the Equal Justice Works website and couldn't believe that there was an opportunity to work in child welfare placement for the summer and have that position as a paid internship. When I made it through the first selection round, I struggled to rank five fabulous placement choices and ultimately made my choice.

ESCAP matched me with the Fulton County Juvenile Court Office of the Child Advocate and it has been an incredible placement. The attorneys have allowed me the opportunity to really use my resources to help the children (our clients) access services and advocate for them. A Child Advocate Attorney is not an easy job and requires a combination of many skills and an ability to find out information and resources when you are encountered with a new issue. As an intern, I have seen a lot of court procedures, but the majority of the substantive work has been completed finding out details about medical diagnoses, resources and support information, and knowing DFCS policy to ensure that clients are getting the help that they need. I have spent days traveling from seemingly unconnected locations and trying to review cases looking for the unanswered questions that may help each client. This has taken me to places such as family foster and group homes hours away, to the public library for newspaper articles about events on a case, the vital records office, Superior and State Court warrants division, Child Fatality Reviews, and MDT (multidisciplinary team) meetings. Each day I may have an idea of what I might be doing, but this could always change by different circumstances. The job is not one for those who always need to be directed by another nor is it for those that get discouraged easily by barriers and obstacles. I felt throughout this experience that my passion for this work really carried my ability to think outside the box, learn, and help advocate.

This passion connected with the Child Advocate Attorneys that I have had the pleasure to work with who have come from a variety of backgrounds and chosen this field. There is frustration in juggling increasing caseloads, increasing responsibilities, and the oversight to ensure compliance with the Kenny A. consent decree which guides our office. Yet the attorneys really care about the children they work with and work to try to help obtain services, often above and beyond the normal workload.

The attorneys allowed me the opportunity to use my knowledge to assist them with cases. I attended child fatality review panels and multi-disciplinary team meetings. I helped consult on child death and severe injury cases and provide information to advocate for special education needs. Sometimes I just had the opportunity to talk with families and children to find out unmet needs or new issues. Sometimes I felt like my inquiries resulted in answers and solutions; other times I worried that I couldn't help resolve the massive levels of concern. We worked together to see if any information I was able to gather could help our clients and advocate better in court. I will only see some of these cases for a brief snapshot of their time in the juvenile courts and there are many children I will wonder what happened. There have been some days where I wonder if I had made a difference; I have even cried occasionally over the overwhelming losses to so many children. However throughout this experience, I have always felt supported both by my placement as well as by the Emory Barton Clinic to process all the experiences and find that I could help make a difference, no matter how small.

I have not found many law internship opportunities within child welfare like ESCAP and I am glad that I found this program. I am grateful for this experience to pursue my passion in law within child advocacy. I appreciated the support of the ESCAP staff who provided feedback and always asked how things were going when I was too shy to talk myself. I am thankful to the attorneys who opened their office doors to work through cases, answer questions, and allowed me the opportunity to take a case and investigate because they had confidence that I would do a good job. I am thankful to those that fund the internship programs so that I didn't have to choose a different job opportunity because I needed to pay my rent. I appreciated the judges who allowed me to observe in their courtroom and understood when I stumbled through my first sentences during a case presentation. Most of all, I am grateful to the children who I encountered this summer who help to continue to fuel my motivation and remind me that I can make it one more day because they have made it one more day too. Their triumphs are the reason that I continue this work.