Required Clinic Component: Child Advocacy Clinic: System-Involved Youth (4-5 fall clinical credits). This clinic and course are bundled; your enrollment in the clinic will automatically enroll you in this required course.

Additional Co-/Pre-Requisites: None.

By Permission: No.

Add/Drop Deadline: Early drop of August 1, 2021.

LLM Students: International students on F-1 student visas are required to have Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization; LL.M. students are not eligible for CPT.

Child Advocacy Clinic: System-Involved Youth is designed to educate students about a range of issues faced by children and youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. With a specific focus on adolescents and young adults, this course will address issues such as transitioning out of the foster care system, sexual exploitation, LGBTQ youth, and the rights of youth in the juvenile justice system.

This course is open only to students who have not taken Child Advocacy Clinic: Child Welfare, Education & Juvenile Justice (held in the winter-spring or spring-only semesters).

All clinic students participate in both the classroom seminar and a clinical fieldwork component during the fall semester.

During the seminar, students bring into the classroom their varied fieldwork experiences, presenting on both specific projects and cases in which they are engaged, and also their placement organization’s larger vision for improving conditions for children involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Students reflect on each other’s experiences, consider which strategies in the field are working and why, and evaluate the benefits and limitations of different approaches. Students will learn about and thoughtfully consider the unique legal issues affecting this population of youth through reflections, readings and class discussions.

Once enrolled in the Clinic, the Child Advocacy Program (CAP) will provide students with a list of fieldwork placement sites and their potential projects. Students will give CAP information about their background and interests and rank their placement preferences. CAP will then match students with a placement based on their preferences, the organizations’ needs, and CAP’s mission to provide students with a broad spectrum of experiences. Visit the CAP Clinic webpage for more information about the Clinic, including answers to frequently asked questions.

This course is part of the Child Advocacy Program (CAP). Please see the CAP website for information about other related courses.