Internship Location: Madison, WI
Organization Type: Nonprofit
Policy Areas: Social Justice, Law
In Spring 2023, I interned with CASA of Dane & Columbia County. CASA is a nonprofit organization that connects its volunteers to children and youth who have experienced abuse or neglect and are going through a legal process. CASA volunteers advocate for the best interest of the child, and work with social workers, attorneys, educators and more. As an intern, my role is to support the administrative workers who deal with cases and assign volunteers to the children. I would read incoming cases and follow along in the legal journey with dispositional, TPC, permanency cases and more. I completed many different tasks including writing up court hearing briefs, organizing welfare services via excel, and reading through cases. I was able to connect to the Madison community in a unique way by learning about the hardships that families endure when trying to raise children and get them the help they need. This experience showed me the flaws in the child welfare system, and how influence on a policy level locally, state, or federally can make a huge difference. This internship experience was eye opening for me because I was able to see how the legal and policy process works with CHIPS (Child In Need of Protective Services) cases, and apply the knowledge from the Public Policy Certificate in my work.