CLIN: Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy (Finck/Bulcock)
Faculty
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| Kara R. Finck Practice Professor of Law, Director of Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic kfinck@law.upenn.edu |
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| Jennifer Bulcock Social Work Supervisor jbulcock@law.upenn.edu |
Additional Information
Skills Training
Oral Presentations
Team Projects
Drafting Legal Documents
Other Professional Skills:
Grading
100% Other (Grades are based on an assessment of work across the semester in seminar participation, client work and professionalism. Client work includes interviewing and counseling; legal research and development of a case theory; creativity, resourcefulness and diligence in client advocacy; factual research and investigation; legal drafting, and ownership and incorporation of supervision. Professionalism includes teamwork, communication, file management, and exercising professional judgment. )
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- If you are absent, due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can ask for volunteers among your classmates to share their notes with you.
- If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can make PowerPoint slides or other class materials available to you.
Meeting Times/Location
MW 1:30PM - 2:50PM
Golkin Hall 238
Category
Clinics/Externships
Credits
7.0
Students in ICAC focus on a range of substantive legal issues impacting families and interdisciplinary approaches including trauma informed practice and holistic representation. Interdisciplinary student teams represent adult, adolescent, and youth clients on a variety of matters including child welfare cases, custody proceedings for immigrant families, guardianship and education and health related matters. Teams of law students and social work students identify legal issues, use interdisciplinary practice skills to advocate for their clients and appear in Family Courts in Philadelphia and Montgomery County. Under Pennsylvania’s student practice rule, students will serve as primary counsel and are responsible for interviewing and counseling clients, developing case theories, drafting legal filings, and providing legal representation in court. Working on interdisciplinary teams, students meet regularly with the Professor and social work supervisor to receive guidance and feedback on their casework and advocacy. As part of the classroom seminar, students develop interviewing, counseling, and oral advocacy skills through simulations and mock hearings. Students will also explore the legal and policy landscape for vulnerable children and families with regards to child welfare, education, immigration and health care with guest lecturers from local legal service providers, advocates with lived experience, and medical experts. Students also tackle important ethical issues that arise in interdisciplinary practice and impact child and family advocacy. PLEASE NOTE: The clinic is not just a class; it’s a professional commitment to clients, peers, and faculty. If you are enrolled in a clinic, you will have until Monday, November 25th, at 5pm to confirm and commit to your seat. Additional instructions will be provided via email after you are enrolled. Once you confirm and commit, you will be fully enrolled in the clinic and may not drop without permission from the instructor and the Dean of Students. Please refer to the Clinic Registration page for detailed information.
Skills Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of the individual course skill; Demonstrate the ability to receive and implement feedback; Demonstrate an understanding of how and when the individual course skill is employed in practice.
Family Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of family law; Perform legal analysis in the context of family law; Communicate effectively on topics related to family law; Demonstrate an understanding of how family law affects other areas of law.
Professional Responsibility and Ethics Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.
Public Interest Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of the varied legal aspects of public interest law; Perform legal analysis in the context of public interest law; Communicate effectively on topics related to public interest law; Demonstrate an understanding of how public interest law is connected to and affected by a wide variety of legal and regulatory structures and doctrines.
Textbooks
"The Clinic Seminar" by Jane Aiken, Deborah Epstein, Wallace J. Mlyniec |