School: Georgia State University College of Law

This summer I interned at Children's Advocacy Centers of Georgia (CACGA). CACGA is the accrediting organization for children's advocacy centers that receive state funding. These centers assist victims of sexual assault with medical and psychological reviews. They also function as the forensic interviewer of the child to avoid multiple interviews and unnecessary hardship to the child.

My primary responsibility for the summer was to conduct legal research on behalf of CACGA pertaining to the development of a statewide database that would connect all accredited CACs in the state. Additionally, it aims to improve law enforcement and prosecution of offenders by bringing multiple organizations together.

The most difficult part of the internship was that it was hard to get started. With little legal supervision within my organization, I quickly learned to use legal contacts within the University and the Barton Clinic to make sure that I was covering all of the legal issues relevant to the database. I soon found myself with many legal topics which may not concern CACGA. It was much easier to trim those issues down than to feel confident that I ascertained all relevant topics.

Soon after I started I was able to go to a site review of one of the CACs. This experience was very helpful in understanding what exactly the centers do and how different one is from another. Visiting helped me contextualize my research so that it was more useful to the organization. I was also able to sit in on a Multiple Disciplinary Team Meeting, where the center, medical examiners, and law enforcement come together to talk about a case. For purposes of my research this was helpful in seeing what each organization contributed to the system.

Day to day staying motivated was difficult. I learned that the independence of the work came with its downside. I found out that I need contact with people to feel productive so I started doing work at the library or coffee shops to stay focused. I also learned that I needed to schedule my time just as I would schedule a regular appointment in order to produce my best work.

The research topic was very interesting. I first tackled HIPAA and what requirements CACGA would have to be mindful of when developing the database. I quickly discovered that federal regulations can be difficult to wade through. It was helpful to talk with compliance officers at other organizations for advice when the answer wasn't right in front of me. This section focused on security of information and confidentiality.

The second topic was the most interesting for me. The database would house information on people who were suspected of child abuse, but may not have been convicted. There is a public policy concern whenever information exists that could be used to harm someone who has not been convicted. Because so many agencies would have access to the database it was important to advise CACGA on how best to develop its interagency protocol. Although a private organization, CACGA would be receiving information from public entities.

I spoke with other organizations in different states that have developed like databases and the general consensus was that the systems were too young to have spurred much litigation in this area. This made the project fun for me because I was able to look to future legal concerns and be creative with that information.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at CACGA. I learned a lot about my working style and feel like a contributed to a legal discussion that will continue in the future.