Author: rgeller2

In the final few weeks of my internship at Lawyers for Children, I spent more time accompanying the social worker I was shadowing on court appointments and client interviews. I also started to form closer bonds with particular clients I had met multiple times over the course of the summer. Two of the goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the summer were to learn how to be a more effective advocate and to improve my communication and listening skills. By watching the way attorneys spoke to their clients before court and spoke up for their clients in court, as well as observing the way family court judges took into consideration a child’s wishes, I’ve seen first hand the way that advocates work to help those in need. I also learned a lot about how to listen effectively to children by observing the way the social worker conducted interviews and in speaking with the clients myself. One of the skills I observed and developed at LFC that I think will be particularly helpful in the future was how to talk to kids about trauma in their lives in a way that is empowering to them and does not require them to relive the experiences we needed to get on the record.

Although it was often disheartening to hear about trauma in children’s lives and not know for sure whether or not we could help or heal them, I felt sure at the end of each day that the work we’d done had a positive impact in our clients’ lives (whether we were acting only as a listening ear or fighting in court to get them removed from a dangerous home environment). Having a positive impact in our young clients’ lives made all the work I did this summer entirely worth it. I would definitely like to continue working to improve the lives of children in the foster care system in the future.

 

 

 

If I were to give advice to another student who wanted to work at Lawyers for Children, I’d tell them to prepare to work hard. Interns were with their supervisors all day which meant that they were living the life of an attorney or social worker during the whole internship. The advice I would give to an individual interested in an internship working with foster care children is to think hard about whether or not they have the patience to work with children and whether or not they really enjoy it before they sign up. Children can sense whether or not someone is invested in their lives and is listening fully to their narratives.

The thing I am most proud of after working at LFC for 10 weeks is the connections I made with two clients in particular. One child, a 14 year old trans girl, was in a situation where her case planner was transphobic and she wasn’t getting the support she needed at her placement. During a conference about the youth’s progress at the facility she was placed in, I got on the phone with the facilitator and explained what was going on. Our client heard me, and seemed to appreciate my standing up for her. Another client who I was helping get supplies for her unborn child was telling me about her life and stopped to say, “You know, I think you’d make a great social worker. It seems like you actually care about what I’m telling you.” It was then that I felt most sure that I want to continue working in this field in the future.

 

Rachel Geller, ’17

Social Work WOW Fellow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the past couple of weeks at Lawyers For Children, I have gotten to meet and work with many different clients that were assigned to the social worker I’m shadowing this summer. I find meeting with clients at the Manhattan Family Court before their court appointments to be particularly rewarding. LFC makes sure to leave time before court to speak to the children they’ll be representing to make sure all parties are on the same page about the child’s most recent circumstances. It is during these meetings that I see clearly the way Lawyers For Children’s work touches their clients. Instead of going into the court room, telling the judge what the child wants, and leaving, LFC takes the time to get to know their clients and why they want what they do. These pre-court meetings have shown me the difference between blind representation and informed advocacy.

In honor of LGBTQ Pride Month in New York City, I had the privilege of attending a summit hosted by Hetrick Martin Institute and a panel of youth advocates from an organization called “You Gotta Believe”. The summit brought together hundreds of advocates for youth in New York City to discuss ways to create safe spaces for LGBTQ youth (an especially vital conversation after the tragedy in Orlando, FL earlier this summer.) Attending the meeting with foster care children in mind, the Youth Advocate I’m working with and I discussed with other advocates from different organizations the difficulty foster care youth have in finding stability in general, and how this struggle is intensified for those who are LGBTQ identifying. Often times, these kids face rejection from foster homes and from other foster children in their placements because of their sexuality or gender identity, making it more difficult for them to settle into new places.

The work environment of my internship is different from university life in that, at LFC, everyone I’m surrounded by has similar goals in mind to make things better for the children LFC represents. At school, a lot of what we learn about is broad and large-scale, but at LFC I’m exposed to a tiny fragment of a small city and get to see the full effort employees put in every day, and the small levels in which change is needed. At LFC I’m developing skills in talking to and listening effectively to people of all ages and backgrounds, and learning to appreciate the importance of personal narratives. For many children in care who are moved from place to place, one of the most central, stable things they possess is their story.

At the You Gotta Believe discussion, called “Nobody Ages Out,” adolescents who have recently aged out of the foster care system shared some stories about their experiences in care. In NY, youth can legally sign themselves out of care at 18, but officially transition out at 21. The youth present at this month’s meeting were LGBTQ identifying youth who shared their experiences tied to coming out to foster parents and other children in their placements. It was very clear to me after this conversation that there is a lot that needs to be changed in the NY foster care system.

The youth on the panel disclosed that foster care children are often left in the dark with regards to their placements and a large percentage of them have no warning or time for preparation when they find out they’re switching placements or need to move. LFC has a specialized policy and litigation task force that works on getting laws, such as the ones that allow for kids to be moved with no warning, changed and updated for foster care youth. I had the opportunity to accompany one of the attorneys on the litigation task force to a New York City counsel meeting that was being held to discuss some proposed bills on foster care reform. The proposed bills aimed to address some of the issues in ACS policy that make it difficult to keep track of the housing and education choices of youth who’ve aged out of care.It was interesting to hear the counsel members question the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) about some of the areas in which they are falling short. The counsel will be holding a vote on bills that will make it necessary for ACS to follow youth in care, send out surveys to gather accurate statistics about foster care youth high school graduation rate, and follow up on the whereabouts of youth who’ve aged out of care.

 

Rachel Geller, ’18

Social Work WOW Fellow

This week I began working as a social work intern at Lawyers for Children. Lawyers for Children advocates for children in New York City in abuse/neglect situations, children placed in foster care, and those involved in custody battles and paternity cases. The free advocacy service matches children with both an attorney and a social worker to ensure that they are adequately represented.
The quality that sets LFC apart from other advocating agencies is that they are dedicated to advocating for what the children want in their cases, not only for what they believe is best for the kids. They work hard to ensure that the child’s voice is heard and that they have a say in decisions that are made for them. Lawyers for Children also has numerous special projects that focus on high-risk children in the foster care system such as an LGBTQ task force, an immigration project, a project for youth aging out of the system, a task force specializing in sexual assault, and a mental health project.

As an intern, I was matched with a social worker and a youth advocate at the center. Social work interns are directly involved in the work LFC does and I felt very welcome in my first week. Interns accompany social workers on home visits, client interviews, and to court. I have really enjoyed working with my mentor, and already sense the dedication LFC has towards giving their clients a voice in their future. So far, it seems that the most trying part of the day is commuting on the subway during rush hour in New York City!

On top of shadowing a social worker, I have also been working with a Youth Advocate in the office. This Thursday the Youth Advisory Board met at the office to discuss their experiences. The Board is led by Youth Advocates and is composed of young adults in the foster care system who are clients at LFC. We provide them with resources at the end of the meeting such as an application to help them find employment, and resources about youth-led projects in NYC.
Serving as an intern at Lawyers For Children has thus far given me an opportunity to put into practice some of what I’ve learned and read about in classes at Brandeis. Now, I’m not only reading about court cases where individuals fought for their rights, I’m sitting in a court room with attorneys and social workers working to get the children what they need and want. I hope to learn how to effectively advocate for individuals who are in a difficult position to advocate for themselves, especially in a flawed system, such as the NYC foster care and child services systems.

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Rachel Geller, ’18

Social Work WOW Fellow