Law & Policy Internship - Summer
Description and Qualifications
Juvenile Law Center seeks first- and second-year law students to work with us during the summer. Interns assist Juvenile Law Center attorneys in researching children's rights issues, writing legal and policy memoranda, preparing training materials, supporting ongoing litigation and legislative initiatives, and responding to requests for assistance.
Time Commitment, Virtual/In-Person Attendance, and Course Credit
Summer interns are expected to work full-time (40 hours/week) for 10 weeks over the summer, with an anticipated start date in late May/early June.
Juvenile Law Center currently uses a hybrid work model where some staff come into the office several times a week, and some staff work remotely full-time. Interns are welcome to either work remotely or come into the office. Interns desiring to work in the office must provide proof of vaccination prior to their start date.
This internship is currently unpaid. However, students may receive course credits during their internship. Students are encouraged to seek funding from other sources; Juvenile Law Center can assist with applications for outside funding, including from the federal work study program. Hiring decisions are made independently of your ability to secure funding.
Internship Programming
Interns will learn more about Juvenile Law Center and our work during the course of the summer through small-group conversations with various staff at Juvenile Law Center. Interns are invited to participate in career panels discussing various post-graduate career paths. Each intern is also assigned an attorney mentor with whom to discuss their professional development.
To Apply
Please submit an application packet to [email protected] with “Summer Law and Policy Internship” in the subject line. Your application packet should include a single pdf with a cover letter indicating your interest in the position, resume, writing sample (10 page max), and at least two references, with email addresses and phone numbers. We want to know why you are applying for an internship with Juvenile Law Center. In your cover letter, please discuss your interest in working with Juvenile Law Center; any personal, professional, or academic experience or interest in the juvenile justice or child welfare systems; and/or how you will support Juvenile Law Center’s commitment to diversity.
Juvenile Law Center’s mission is to advocate for rights, dignity, equity, and opportunity in the child welfare and justice systems. We also work to reduce the harm of the child welfare and justice systems, limit their reach, and ultimately abolish them so all young people can thrive. The diversity of our staff is critical to fulfilling this mission.
Juvenile Law Center is committed to cultivating an inclusive space that affirms and celebrates the backgrounds, learned and lived expertise, whole identities, and individual perspectives of our staff. We are committed to the diversity of our staff as it pertains to race, color, ethnicity, class, sex, marital or parental status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, size, disability, religion, national origin, and/or child welfare or juvenile or criminal justice involvement, including prior record of arrest, adjudication, or conviction. Applicants of all backgrounds and experiences are encouraged to self-identify during the application process.
Juvenile Law Center is an equal opportunity employer.
Deadlines
We accept summer internship applications on a rolling basis between November 1 and February 1. Final hiring decisions will be made by the end of February.
Organization Background
Juvenile Law Center fights for rights, dignity, equity, and opportunity for youth. We work to reduce the harm of the child welfare and justice systems, limit their reach, and ultimately abolish them so all young people can thrive.
Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center was the first nonprofit, public interest law firm for children in the country. As an advocacy organization we now use multiple approaches to accomplish our mission: legal advocacy, policy advocacy, youth-led advocacy, and strategic communications. Our strategies are interconnected. We pair impact litigation with policy advocacy and community organizing to push for lasting and transformative change. Our policy agenda is informed by—and often conducted in collaboration with—youth, family members, and grassroots partners. Our youth advocacy campaigns respond to legal and policy opportunities in the field. In all our work, we seek out strategic communications opportunities to enhance the work and to shape public opinion. We seek opportunities across the country to work where we can respond to identified needs in the community, build on local partnerships, leverage legislative and legal reform opportunities and create momentum for change. We strive to ensure that laws, policies, and practices affecting youth advance racial and economic equity and are consistent with children's unique developmental characteristics and human dignity.