Summer 2023 Paralegal Intern
SUMMER 2023 PARALEGAL INTERN
Children’s Rights is seeking full-time undergraduate interns to join an active litigation program committed to reforming child welfare services for abused and neglected children. Children’s Rights is a national advocacy organization that that has, for over 25 years, championed the legal rights of children impacted by government systems. Every day, children are harmed by America’s failing child welfare, juvenile justice, education, immigration, and healthcare systems. These systems disproportionately harm children of color, LGBTQ/TGNC, and other minority youth. Children’s Rights uses civil rights impact litigation, policy expertise, and public education to hold governments accountable for keeping all kids safe and healthy.
Our work tackles a variety of historic and emerging social justice issues impacting children. Recent campaigns have targeted, for example, failing child welfare systems, unconstitutional conditions of confinement in juvenile detention facilities, the failure to provide adequate mental and physical health services to vulnerable children, the unjust treatment of unaccompanied immigrant minors, the pervasive practice of administering powerful and dangerous psychotropic drugs to children in foster care without adequate oversight, the systemic discrimination against LGBTQ/TGNC youth in custodial settings, and the grave outcomes for older youth “aging” out of government systems. We are keenly aware of the intersectionality that renders specific youth populations even more vulnerable to systemic failures.
Job Summary:
Undergraduate students interested in public interest law, the legal system, child welfare, social services, and/or reform of government systems would find an internship at Children’s Rights to be an interesting and rewarding experience. Many former paralegals and paralegal interns at Children’s Rights have gone on to law school or other related graduate degree programs.
Duties/Responsibilities:
- Providing administrative support primarily to our legal teams;
- Assisting with case-related tasks, including monitoring press and relevant legislation;
- Reviewing primary and secondary child welfare sources, including case-specific documentation from child welfare agencies;
- Working on an individual research project on a topic of your choice that will culminate in a memo and remote presentation on the topic to the office; and
- Pursuing factual research and data analysis.
Experience and Qualifications:
Children’s Rights seeks interns who are interested in children’s issues and/or social services and committed to reform on behalf of abused and neglected children. Candidates in their junior or senior year of college are preferred, though all undergraduate candidates with relevant experience will be considered. Candidates must be available to volunteer five days and (35) hours per week. Additionally, applicants must be detail-oriented and well organized, with strong writing and critical thinking skills, as well as excited to contribute to and observe all aspects of an advocacy non-profit.
Due to safety concerns relating to COVID-19, the entire internship will be conducted remotely, and all your training and supervision will be remote. Start and end dates are flexible, but a minimum commitment of eight (8) weeks is required. Internships at Children's Rights are unpaid, though we are happy to support interns in seeking outside funding and/or course credit from their schools.
Knowledge of children’s issues, social services, social justice, civil rights, racial justice, LGBTQ/TGNC issues, juvenile justice and/or other areas of our work is a plus. Applicants with prior personal involvement in the systems we fight to improve and/or with other diverse life experiences and perspectives are especially encouraged to apply. For more information, please visit our website: www.childrensrights.org.
Physical and Travel Requirements:
Prolonged periods sitting and/or standing at a desk and working on a computer. No travel is required.
To Apply:
Please submit a detailed cover letter outlining your interest and experience, a current resume, and college transcript (unofficial transcripts are fine) as one file and upload to the Cover Letter upload field and upload your resume to the Resume field via childrensrights.bamboohr.com/jobs/ by Friday, February 10. Only applicants of interest will be contacted for an interview. For any additional questions you may have regarding this position you may send an email to parainternship@childrensrights.org.
Children’s Rights is an equal employment opportunity employer, and women, people of color, LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people, people with disabilities, and people with unique lived experience or diverse professional or personal backgrounds and perspectives are encouraged to apply.