Child Welfare Practicum

About the Practicum:  The Practicum consists of a fieldwork placement with organizations representing children or parents in child welfare cases, with a companion seminar. The Child Welfare Practicum seeks to provide UC Law SF students with training and experience that will enable them to go into child welfare law directly after graduation. Students who participate in the Practicum will have already completed some of the requirements for joining the San Francisco Dependency panel.

Classroom Component: The externship will be accompanied by a seminar taught by UC Law SF Adjunct Professor, Abigail Trillin, who is the Director of Legal Services for Children. The seminar will be a two-credit seminar that will serve as both an opportunity to reflect on and learn from the students’ externship experiences and an overview of child welfare law and other related topics. Topics will include an overview of child welfare law and process,  institutional racism in child welfare and trauma-informed lawyering. Trial skills topics will also be included.

Fieldwork Component: Students may complete the field work component at legal offices focused on representing parents and/or children in the child welfare system, such as Legal Services for Children, East Bay Children’s Law Office, or the San Francisco Dependency Panel (part of the SF Bar Association). Students will work closely with attorneys are they represent individuals in child welfare proceedings. Tasks may include conducting legal research, analyzing discovering, drafting memos or briefs, conducting client meetings, observing and supporting attorneys during hearings and trials. All externships will be at least 16 hours/week.

Clinical Instructor: The course is taught by two adjunct professors who are experts at child welfare law and attorneys at Legal Services for Children<https://www.lsc-sf.org/about-us/our-staff/>, Jennifer Daly and David White.

Open to: All upper division JD students, with enrollment preference given to third years and to Spanish-speaking students able to converse with clients without an interpreter. LLM and MSL students are also welcome to apply.

6-7 units: 2 class units and 4-5 fieldwork units graded pass-fail. Fieldwork units count against the 20-unit limit for non-classroom work. All units count as Experiential.

Prerequisites: Recommended, but not required, for prior or concurrent enrollment: Children and the Law and Evidence.

To enroll: Please see Sharknet for more information on application and enrollment.