The Center for Families, Children and the Courts Student Fellows Program: A Unique Experience to Develop Lawyers as Problem Solvers

The Center for Families, Children and the Courts Student Fellows Program I (SFP) is now underway.  The course provides students with a unique perspective on the law, instructing them on policies and theories that underlie family justice system reform.  The SFP includes classroom discussion, lectures, and guest speakers about cutting edge issues in family law, including unified family courts, therapeutic jurisprudence, and the ecology of human development. 

Student Fellows have the opportunity to see firsthand how theory informs practice during visits to the Family Division of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, a drug court, a teen court, and the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center.  They also are actively involved in CFCC’s projects, including its Truancy Court Program (TCP).   For example, as part of their TCP involvement, Student Fellows serve as law clerks to the TCP judges, collaborate with public school faculty and administrators, work with service providers, and develop workshops for teachers, parents, and students on issues relating to school attendance.   Interested Student Fellows can continue their involvement for a second semester in the Student Fellows Program II, which has no seminar component but includes a weekly team meeting.

Throughout the semester, the CFCC Student Fellows will be posting blogs about their experiences with some aspect of the SFP.  Click here to view and engage with past and current blogs by Student Fellows and to learn more about the Student Fellows Program.