School: University of Cincinnati School of Law

This summer I interned for the Atlanta Legal Aid Society -TeamChild division. This particular initiative focused on providing legal advocacy to children with education challenges. Having had no prior experience in education law, I did not know what to expect. However, I embraced the opportunity to work with a wide variety of challenging and engaging projects that have since contributed to my understanding of various education issues.

On my first day, my supervisor asked me to assist him on something that evolved into one of my most valued assignments of the summer. This assignment involved interviewing parents whose children were sent to an alternative education program designed to meet the needs of at-risk students who were not succeeding in the traditional setting. However, while there were some students that were being legitimately placed in the program due to severe behavioral and disciplinary issues, it seemed as though most were being placed arbitrarily and without any cause. Red flags were raised following complaints regarding the lack of intervention on the part of school officials in the face of school violence. Additionally, the teachers at the program failed to correctly record attendance and grades; there was illegal removal of students without the necessary due process protections required by federal and state law; and the program frequently failed to comply with the federal special education laws. After hearing about these problems, I knew this would be a challenging project. As such, I encountered multiple hurdles during my first interview which I would later learn to jump through continued practice.

My biggest challenge was initiating the interview process because I had a difficult time trying to reach individuals who did not have telephone service, had non-working numbers, disconnected numbers, or were unable to talk during working hours. As a result, I conducted the majority of the interviews at the individuals' homes. The parents and children participated in open-ended interviews during which I would request stories and other information regarding their experiences with the program. At first, I had a hard time understanding the way in which they spoke because many clients slurred or spoke in slang that was difficult to decipher. However, after talking to a few of them, I grew accustomed to using certain techniques such as repeating and recapping what they said in order to ensure I was documenting what was actually being said rather than weaving a story in my head. I then gathered all the facts and drafted memos of each interview after which a second round was conducted.

While my internship involved a lot of hands-on work, I also had the opportunity to draft client intake reports, a notice of appeal of a disciplinary tribunal's decision to place a student in an alternative education program, a request for stay of the student's punishment pending the appeal, and letters requesting students' educational records from various school districts. Additionally, I was also requested to research a range of legal issues relating to the Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act, state mandated student testing and assessments, recently passed Senate Bill 10 regarding Georgia's Special Needs Vouches, and finally Georgia's Medicaid reform. Of all the projects, I spent the most time researching the Georgia's healthcare system because the State has been undergoing major changes to their Medicaid. At first, I was a bit reluctant to take on any research endeavors surrounding this issue because firstly, this topic was not of any particular interest to me. Secondly, I never had the opportunity to cross paths with it in previous internships or even at school and therefore, my lack of exposure to this topic left me feeling utterly confused every time I was told to research a Medicaid issue. However, being a lawyer also means being a full-time researcher. Keeping that in my mind, I explored away.

Overall, the work I did with TeamChild presented me with a continual cycle of confronting challenges as the reality of representing the low-income population of our nation hit me harder than ever. This reality most often surfaced every time I conducted an interview with a client whose life was about to fall apart in pieces either because 1) their child had been pushed into an alternative education setting against their will; 2) a mother lost multiple jobs so that she could attend her child's individual education plan (IEP) meetings; 3) another parent was told that their oppositionally defiant child who was making significant progress would now regress because her health services were being cut; or 4) all of the above. I believe my exposure to these issues has only further reinforced my passion about a career in child advocacy. Most importantly, I am very grateful for the training that I received both from the Barton Clinic as well as my supervisors at TeamChild for they have undoubtedly equipped me with the necessary skills I will need to be a successful child advocate.