CAP Clinic: Winter/Spring and Spring 2007
In Spring 2007, CAP will offer the "Child Advocacy Clinic" (which was formerly called "Child Advocacy Clinical Workshop"). Here is the course description:
Child Advocacy Clinic
Prof. Elizabeth Bartholet and Ms. Jessica Budnitz
2 classroom credits - Spring
3 or 4 required clinical credits - Spring
2 optional clinical credits - Winter
This clinic is designed to educate students about a range of social change strategies and to encourage critical thinking about the pros and cons of different approaches. It focuses on child welfare (abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption), education, and juvenile justice. The course is for students with a particular interest in children's issues, but also for those more generally interested in law reform and social change.
Fieldwork Component: Students will be placed in a wide variety of fieldwork settings, ranging from organizations providing individual advocacy, to those promoting systemic change through impact litigation and legislative reform, to grassroots organizing initiatives. Some students will work for reform from within the system and others from outside. Different students will work on different types of projects, ranging from the drafting of legal briefs, to the development of legislative reform proposals, to participation in mediation, to in-court advocacy work, to leveraging the media and writing op-ed articles, to research on new policy initiatives. More specifically:
• In the child welfare area, students may work with the Mass. Dept. Of Social Services, with private lawyers representing children at risk for abuse and neglect, with a model early home visitation program focused on supporting fragile families, or with the district attorney's office prosecuting parents accused of child maltreatment.
• In the education area, students may work with a program that weds social science with the promotion of policy reform, with a project advocating for the special needs of children exposed to violence, or with the state agency charged with overseeing schools on issues involving, e.g., charter schools, school finance, and school discipline.
• In the juvenile justice area, students may work on legislative and policy initiatives aimed at juvenile justice reform, on alternatives to detention, or with a model juvenile defender organization.
Students may also work as a law clerk in the juvenile court, or with a state legislative committee focused on child welfare and education.
Once enrolled, students will be placed to the degree possible in accord with their preferences among fieldwork organizations. Click here for a description of clinical placements offered with last year's CAP Clinical Workshop.
Classroom Component: Students will bring their different fieldwork experiences into the classroom so that all can learn from the rich combination of clinical experiences and debate the value of different approaches. Each student will give one presentation during the term, often in combination with the fieldwork supervisor, describing their clinical work, their organization, and how their project fits within the organization's larger child advocacy agenda.
Course requirements include regular attendance and active participation in discussion. Grading will be based on a combination of each student's presentation and related packet, contributions to class discussion throughout the term, and the clinical fieldwork. Students may use their project as the basis for writing a substantial paper for an additional credit, which may be used to satisfy the School's Written Work Requirement or simply to earn extra written work credit.
Winter Term Option: The Winter Term opens up the possibility of placement with exciting organizations throughout the U.S. and even internationally. Some Winter-Spring students will be placed in a distant placement for the Winter, and then return to continue their fieldwork in the form of a research and writing project in the Spring. Other Winter-Spring students will be placed locally, working full-time in the Winter and then part-time in the Spring. All will participate in the Spring classroom component.
Enrollment Procedures: Students should enroll through the Office of Clinical Programs (OCP) Pre-Registration Lottery held in April 2006. Please note that the Child Advocacy Clinic has EARLIER drop/add deadlines than other clinical programs, which can be found in the OCP on-line materials.
Relationship to Other Child Advocacy Program Courses: This course is part of the Child Advocacy Program (CAP), whose other courses are: Child, Family, and State , and The Art of Social Change: Child Welfare, Education, & Juvenile Justice . Enrollment in both those courses is encouraged. While there is no prerequisite for the Child Advocacy Clinic, in the event that it is overenrolled a preference will be given to students who have taken or are currently registered for either of the other CAP courses.