I haven't written in here since I got sick, but I'll do a HUGE catch up posting later, for now here's the update for this week:
1. Description. What happened in your project this week? What did you do? Experience?
This week I got to attend the lawyer training day for the lawyers that are new to the Children's Law Center (CLC). The day included a speaker, a panel of current CLC lawyers, a video by the American Bar Association (ABA) about how to represent children, and a panel of former clients of the CLC. I also spent some time in the office working on filing and preparing the next newsletter for print. In addition to that I helped hand deliver a grant application. I wish I could go into further detail about the seminar, but I really am not legally able to. All I can say is that they gave examples of real foster care cases that were difficult and explained how they resolved them. It's really not an easy job, many of the lawyers come under fire for the work they do with the CLC.
2. Interpretation. What did you learn from your project this week? About the project? About the issue? About yourself?
I definitely learned a lot about how to properly represent children as a lawyer, including that the CLC lawyer's job is to advocate for what the child wants even if it is not necessarily in the child's best interest. I learned more about the shortcomings of the foster care system. For instance, 90% of siblings in foster care are separated. I learned that I would probably be better suited as a social worker instead of a lawyer because I don't know if I could really represent a child that wanted something that wasn't good for them.
3. Evaluation. How would you evaluate your work on the project this week? What grade would you give yourself? Are you accomplishing the objectives of the project? Your personal objectives?
I would give myself a good grade for the week. I feel like I've learned a lot about the project as a whole. Getting outside of the office and being able to see and hear more of what is happening in the legal workings of the foster system was really helpful and I think it will really enhance my project and what I take away from the experience as a whole. I am accomplishing the objectives, now more than ever, in my opinion.
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