Adoption & Child Welfare Law Fellowships

Adoption Law Fellows

Adoption & Child Welfare Law Fellowships are available to outstanding incoming first year Capital University Law School (CULS) students interested in pursuing a career in child welfare and/or adoption law upon graduation. Fellows receive high-quality educational and experiential training, as well as financial benefits in exchange for a commitment to spend at least the first two years of their career working in this area of law.

Capital University Law School and The National Center for Adoption Law & Policy

Capital University Law School is the home of the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy (NCALP), an academically-based entity dedicated to improving the law, policies, and practices associated with child protection and adoption systems.

The Adoption & Child Welfare Fellowship program is administered by Capital University Law School and NCALP and builds upon Capital's other programs which serve to develop the skills of future child welfare and family law attorneys: Child and Family Law Concentration, Family Advocacy Clinic, Center for Dispute Resolution, and the annual Wells Conference.

Combining your interest in the welfare of children with a legal education will prepare you for employment in the field of child welfare and adoption law. CULS’s concentration program includes stimulating coursework and practical experience to give you the skills you need. The Children and Family Law Concentration allows students to specially focus their upper-class course selections, including the nation’s only annually offered course in Adoption Law. With nationally prominent family law scholars on its faculty and a portion of its clinic dedicated to serving family violence victims, CULS provides a range of varied opportunities for students interested in serving families and children.

Need for Child Advocates

There are a wide-range of complex and challenging aspects to adoption and child welfare law, including termination of parental rights, parental consent, wrongful adoption, race and cultural issues, sexual orientation issues, The Indian Child Welfare Act, and International issues in adoption. There are over 500,000 children in foster care in the United States and there are about 114,000 children in foster care who have been freed for adoption who are waiting for permanent, loving homes. Each year, approximately 20,000 children in foster care will age out of the system without ever being placed with a permanent family.

Fellowship Benefits

For incoming students starting law school in Fall 2009:

Academic Merit Scholarship

An annual $5,000 Academic Merit Scholarship (provided the Fellow maintains a cumulative law school GPA of 3.0 or greater)

Work Opportunities

First-year summer: Opportunity to work as a paid student staff member of NCALP
Second-year summer: $5,000 Stipend to help cover expenses while working full-time for a government or non-profit employer on child welfare or adoption related projects
Second and third academic year: Opportunity to work as a paid student staff member of NCALP
Third academic year: Opportunity to work as a research assistant for a CULS faculty member who teaches courses related to the Children and Family Law concentration

Other Benefits

Conference stipend to cover costs (travel, lodging, and conference fees) associated with attendance at an adoption/child welfare related conference
Unique networking and shadowing opportunities with local alumni practicing in family law
Ability to take advantage of our location in Ohio’s capital city through involvement with legislative and policy-related reform efforts and groups
Conducting research for significant national amicus curiae cases
Participating with NCALP staff members in meetings with other child welfare professionals and organizations
Participating in developing an online child welfare/adoption journal
Opportunity to work on adoption and child welfare cases through CULS’s Family Advocacy Clinic
Opportunity to have NCALP's Academic Director supervise the Fellow’s upper class writing project (This upper class writing project is a requirement of CULS and can be satisfied either through a class paper, independent study, or law review paper.)
Authority to list on resume and inform prospective employers the student was awarded the competitive Capital University Law School Adoption and Child Welfare Law Fellowship

Note: The above schedule of benefits is based on a Fellow’s full-time enrollment. It can be modified to accommodate part-time enrollment.

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Expectations of Fellows

Those selected as Adoption Law Fellows would commit to:

Fulfill all requirements of the CULS Children and Family Law concentration
Fulfill the upper class writing requirement with a paper, note or project concerning a topic in child welfare or adoption law approved by the Children and Family Law Concentration director
Work full-time during the second Academic Summer in a government or non-profit setting on child welfare or adoption law projects.
Work in the area of child welfare and/or adoption law in the two years following law school graduation. (Graduates may suspend this obligation only to accept a clerkship - with the understanding that the Fellow will complete this obligation immediately following the clerkship.)

Fellows will be required to sign an agreement regarding these commitments and failure to abide by them would result in forfeiture of the Fellowship and authority for the law school to recoup Fellowship funds expended on behalf of that individual.

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Selection Process

The Fellowships will be awarded, based on all materials submitted, interviews and reference checks, to exceptional students demonstrating scholarship, leadership, and a commitment to adoption and/or child welfare law.

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Application

Fellowship applications are due May 1, 2009. Those interested in being considered for an Adoption Law Fellowship should submit, in addition to the CULS admissions materials, the following materials:

Fellowship Application (with two essays)
One Reference Letter - This reference should be from a person able to attest to your leadership skills, interest in child welfare and/or adoption law, and any other personal characteristics relevant if selected as a Fellow. Please be advised that references will be contacted for those applicants selected as finalists. This reference letter may be, but is not required to be, the same letter submitted as part of the CULS application. However, students must arrange for a separate copy to also be sent to the following address:
Fellowship Coordinator
The National Center for Adoption Law & Policy
Capital University Law School
303 East Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Interview
Fellowship finalists will also be required to attend an in-person interview with the Fellowship Selection Committee composed of NCALP/CULS faculty, staff, and current Adoption Law Fellows. Interviews will be conducted in mid-May at CULS in Columbus, Ohio.

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